Blaengwynfi Colliery

Overview

The Glyncorrwg Colliery Company's workings at Blaengwynfi, at the head of the Afan valley above Abergwynfi, where a shaft was being sunk from about 1889 and eight sinkers died in an overwind in 1891. The NMRS places the Glyncorrwg pits here and returns Blaengwynfi's workforce separately, 264 in 1903 and 550 in 1922.

History

About 1889 a new shaft was begun at Abergwynfi, and the hamlet of Blaengwynfi grew up beside it. A newspaper report of 1891 called it the Glyncorrwg Colliery, belonging to Messrs W. Perch and Co. of Cardiff, with W. M. Thomas as manager; the Inspector of Mines gave it as the property of the Glyncorrwg Colliery Company Ltd. On the night of 30 September 1891, after nearly two years of sinking at the No. 1 shaft, eight sinkers coming off shift were overwound in the bowk and thrown against the engine house (see Disasters, below).

The NMRS account of the Glyncorrwg Colliery says that the Glyncorrwg pits were at Blaengwynfi, about 900 feet above sea level and six miles north of Maesteg, while the Glyncorrwg levels were at Glyncorrwg itself, and it lists Blaengwynfi's manpower apart from the pits and levels: 264 in 1903, 253 in 1905, 530 in 1910 and 550 in 1922. MineArchive's Glyncorrwg Colliery record places the North and South pits, completed in 1904, by Glyncorrwg village; how the two belong together is not settled, and the records are kept separate. Plans of the No. 2 Rhondda seam worked from Glyncorrwg, Blaengwynfi and Ynyscorrwg were closed in 1925.

Geology

The No. 2 Rhondda seam of the South Wales Coalfield.

Workings

A No. 1 shaft sunk from about 1889, and workings in the No. 2 Rhondda seam shared with Glyncorrwg and Ynyscorrwg.

Closure

Unknown.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Glyncorrwg Colliery — The NMRS places the Glyncorrwg pits at Blaengwynfi and gives the Glyncorrwg Colliery Company as owner of both; the two records are kept separate under the user's 2026-10-08 ruling.

Disasters & major incidents

• Blaengwynfi Colliery overwind, 1891
  30 September 1891 · Winding / Shaft Accident · 8 fatalities
  Eight sinkers coming off shift at the new Blaengwynfi shaft were killed on 30 September 1891 when the bowk was drawn over the winding wheel and thrown against the engine house.

Recorded claims

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

• Sinking at the No. 1 shaft of the Glyncorrwg Colliery, Abergwynfi, had been going on for nearly two years by September 1891, and the hamlet of Blaengwynfi was springing up near the new colliery. ¹
• In 1891 the colliery was reported as belonging to Messrs W. Perch and Co., Cardiff. ¹
• The colliery was the property of the Glyncorrwg Colliery Company Ltd at the time of the 1891 overwind. ²
• The Glyncorrwg pits were situated at Blaengwynfi, about 900 feet above sea level and six miles north of Maesteg; the Glyncorrwg levels were at Glyncorrwg. ³
• Blaengwynfi's workforce is returned separately as 264 in 1903, 530 in 1910 and 550 in 1922. ³
• Plans of the No. 2 Rhondda seam worked from Glyncorrwg, Blaengwynfi and Ynyscorrwg were closed in 1925. ^4,5

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Colliery Disaster at Abergwynfi: Eight Men Killed (newspaper, 3 October 1891) — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Blaengwynfi Colliery shaft accident, Garw Valley, 1891 — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (secondary) Glyncorrwg Colliery, Blaengwynfi and Glyncorrwg, Afan Valley — Northern Mine Research Society
4. (primary) YNYSCORRWG & BLAENGWYNFI, No 2 Rhondda: abandonment plan catalogue entry — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority
5. (primary) GLYNCORRWG/ BLAENGWYNFI/ YNYSCORRWG, No 2 Rhondda: abandonment plan catalogue entry (1925) — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority

Record created: 6 October 2026 · Last researched: 8 October 2026