Amman Anthracite Colliery

Overview

An anthracite colliery at Brynamman in the upper Amman Valley, worked by the Amman Iron Company from at least 1858, reopened by a new slant around 1908 and employing up to 145 men in the 1920s before it was absorbed into the anthracite combines and disappeared from the lists in 1932.

History

Amman Colliery, also known as Gwter Fawr, began as an anthracite pit at Brynamman owned by the Amman Iron Company, which held it at least from 1858 to 1883; one account describes it as a drift. Before July 1884 the Amman or Bully Bach slant abandoned the Lower seam. In 1879 a hitcher was killed by a stone falling down the shaft, and in 1879 and 1883 a fireman and a labourer died, one under a fall of roof and one under moving trams. By 1908 a new slant had been opened about a hundred yards south of the pit. It belonged to the Amman Anthracite Colliery Limited, managed by D. J. Thomas, with 65 men underground and 22 at the surface; that year a collier was killed by a fall of stone. In 1913 the colliery itself was not shown as working, although Amman Anthracite Collieries Limited, owned by Cann and Glass Limited, employed 94 men in the Pencraig Drift. Cann and Glass were working Amman Anthracite Colliery again in 1917, and in 1918 it employed 75 men underground and 25 at the surface under T. Morgan. In 1923, with Richard Rees as manager, it employed 103 underground and 42 at the surface. By 1925 it had passed to United Anthracite Collieries Limited and by 1930 to Amalgamated Anthracite Collieries, when it produced 50,000 tons with much the same workforce. It was not listed in 1932.

Geology

Anthracite of the western South Wales Coalfield, including the Lower seam.

Workings

An anthracite pit (the old pit) and slants, among them the Amman or Bully Bach slant and a new slant about 100 yards south of the pit by 1908.

Closure

Listed as working in 1930 and not listed in 1932.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• It was opened as an anthracite pit, with a new slant about 100 yards south of the pit by 1908. (disputed) ¹
• It was an anthracite drift mine. (disputed) ²

Recorded claims

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

• The colliery was owned by the Amman Iron Company at least between 1858 and 1883. ^1,2
• It was opened as an anthracite pit, with a new slant about 100 yards south of the pit by 1908. (disputed) ¹
• It was an anthracite drift mine. (disputed) ²
• In 1908 it was owned by the Amman Anthracite Colliery Limited, managed by D. J. Thomas, and employed 65 men underground and 22 at the surface. ^1,2
• In 1923 Amman Anthracite Collieries employed 103 men underground and 42 at the surface, with Richard Rees as manager. ^1,2
• In 1930 it was owned by Amalgamated Anthracite Collieries Limited and produced 50,000 tons; it was not listed in 1932. ^1,2
• In 1879 a hitcher at Amman Colliery, Brynamman, was killed by a stone falling down the shaft. ³

Sources

1. (secondary) Gelliceidrim Colliery page (Rhos Amman Colliery section) — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (secondary) Amman Anthracite Colliery — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (secondary) Welsh coal mine fatalities, 1879 — Welsh Coal Mines
4. (secondary) Welsh mining fatalities, 1908 — Welsh Coal Mines

Record created: 16 October 2026 · Last researched: 16 October 2026