Big Pit

Overview

Big Pit, at Blaenavon in the South Wales coalfield, was a working coal mine for a century before closing in 1980 — and reopening in 1983 as Wales's National Coal Museum, now part of the Blaenavon Industrial Landscape World Heritage Site.

History

The site's mining origins predate coal: around 1810 the Engine Pit Level was driven by hand to reach shallow iron deposits, and later served as an emergency exit once coal working began. Historians disagree on exactly when Big Pit itself came into consistent operation — it may have developed from an earlier working known as Kearsley's Pit — but the first mines inspector's report describing a pit under that name dates from 1881, noting its distinctively elliptical shaft, 18 feet by 13 feet, the first in Wales large enough to take two tramways. The main shaft was deepened in 1878 to reach the Old Coal seam at 293 feet. Employment grew through the early 20th century, reaching 1,122 workers by 1908 and peaking at around 1,400 men in 1923, when the mine produced over 250,000 tons of coal a year, some of it exported as far as South America; conveyor systems were added in 1908, electric fans, haulage and pumps in 1910, and pithead baths in 1939. The colliery was nationalised under the National Coal Board in 1947. Employment fell steadily thereafter — to 494 men by 1970 — and winding operations ceased in 1973 as the pit was converted to drift working; Big Pit finally closed on 2 February 1980, with the loss of more than 250 jobs.

What remains

Torfaen Borough Council bought the site for £1 after closure, and the Big Pit (Blaenavon) Trust reopened it as a museum in 1983 following a £1.5 million development. It became part of National Museum Wales in 2001, and — now Big Pit: National Coal Museum — remains formally classed as a working pit under mining safety regulations. Its 50-minute underground tour, led by former miners, descends 90 metres; visitors are issued a hard hat, safety lamp and self-rescuer. Big Pit forms part of the Blaenavon Industrial Landscape UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed in 2000, and won the Gulbenkian Prize (now Art Fund Museum of the Year) in 2005.

Abandoned workings can be dangerous — unstable ground, uncapped shafts, flooding and bad air are common even where a site looks safe from the surface. This entry describes history and general location only; it is not an access guide.

Disasters & major incidents

• Big Pit explosion (1908)
  11 December 1908 · Explosion · 3 fatalities
  A localised underground explosion killed three men.
• Big Pit fire (1913)
  7 April 1913 · Fire · 3 fatalities
  Three men died in a fire near the underground stables while trying to rescue the pit ponies stabled there; the horses survived.

Recorded claims

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

• The 1881 mines inspector's report describing Big Pit noted its distinctively elliptical shaft, 18 feet by 13 feet — the first shaft in Wales large enough to take two tramways. ¹
• Employment at Big Pit peaked at around 1,400 men in 1923, when the mine produced over 250,000 tons of coal a year, some of it exported as far as South America. ¹
• Big Pit finally closed on 2 February 1980, with the loss of more than 250 jobs; the site was bought by Torfaen Borough Council for £1 and reopened as a museum in 1983. ¹
• Big Pit is formally classed as a working pit under HM Inspectorate of Mines regulations, and its underground tour — led by former miners — descends 90 metres below the surface. ¹

Images

Sources

1. (secondary) Big Pit National Coal Museum — Wikipedia

Record created: 20 August 2026 · Last researched: 20 August 2026