Glamorgan Colliery explosion, 1932

Date	25 January 1932
Mine	Glamorgan Colliery
Region	Rhondda Cynon Taf
Primary type	Explosion
Associated types	Gas / Asphyxiation, Rescue
Fatalities	11 (Four miners were killed by the initial explosion; afterdamp killed a further five miners and two of the rescue party sent in afterwards, for eleven deaths in total.)
Context	During active mining
Status	Researched

A gas explosion in the Pentre seam at Glamorgan Colliery, Llwynypia, killed eleven men, including two members of the rescue party.

A period photograph of the Glamorgan Collieries surface buildings and headgear at Llwynypia, where the 1932 explosion occurred, taken around 1905 — Martin Ridley (1861-1936), public domain, via Wikimedia Commons/National Library of Wales

Cause

A gas explosion in the No. 1 Pit workings in the Pentre seam, where coal was worked by longwall faces, some mechanised with conveyors, and others as traditional stalls.

What happened

On 25 January 1932, an explosion tore through the No. 1 Pit workings in the Pentre seam at Glamorgan Colliery, Llwynypia -- by then the property of Welsh Associated Collieries Limited. Four miners were killed outright by the blast itself; afterdamp -- the toxic mixture of gases left behind by an underground explosion -- then killed a further five miners, and two of the men who went in as part of the rescue party, bringing the total to eleven dead.

Rescue & recovery

A rescue party went into the workings after the initial explosion; two of its members were themselves killed by afterdamp, underlining how dangerous re-entering a gas-affected working could be before the atmosphere had cleared or been tested.

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

Four miners were killed by the initial explosion; afterdamp then killed five more miners and two of the rescue party, for eleven deaths in total. ¹

Related terminology

Mining terms this disaster is structurally linked to, with the nature of the relationship.

Afterdamp (contextual relationship)
Named twice in this record, first in the narrative: “…Limited. Four miners were killed outright by the blast itself; afterdamp -- the toxic mixture of gases left behind by an underground…”
Coal (contextual relationship)
Named in this record’s cause: “A gas explosion in the No. 1 Pit workings in the Pentre seam, where coal was worked by longwall faces, some mechanised with conveyors, and…”
Colliery (contextual relationship)
Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “A gas explosion in the Pentre seam at Glamorgan Colliery, Llwynypia, killed eleven men, including two members of the rescue…”
Longwall (contextual relationship)
Named in this record’s cause: “…the No. 1 Pit workings in the Pentre seam, where coal was worked by longwall faces, some mechanised with conveyors, and others as traditional…”

Sources

(secondary) Llwynypia Colliery Explosion - Porth - 1932 — Northern Mine Research Society
(secondary) Glamorgan Colliery Llwynpia — Welsh Coal Mines

Record created: 31 August 2026 · Last researched: 31 August 2026