Blaenhirwaun Colliery

Overview

An anthracite colliery near Cross Hands, sunk at the end of the nineteenth century and closed in 1962. On 6 September 1955 an explosion on a face in the Lower Pumpquart seam killed men whose number the sources still do not agree on.

History

At the end of the nineteenth century the Blaenhirwaun Anthracite Company sank two shafts near Cefneithin, one of them over two hundred metres deep, beside the Mynydd Mawr railway that ran down the valley to the port of Llanelli. The pit worked six seams: the Green, Trichwart, Big Vein, Stanllyd, Pumpquart and Gras. It came to S. R. Anthracite Collieries, who employed 413 there in 1918; the Lists of Mines give 592 in 1923, working the Green Vein, Big Vein and Stanllyd. New Blaenhirwaun Anthracite Collieries took it over during the 1930s, and it passed to the National Coal Board in 1947, when 506 were employed and it produced 100,000 tons of anthracite. Its later life was, in Welsh Coal Mines' phrase, somewhat chequered, though it was not much troubled by blowers of methane. Then on 6 September 1955 an explosion tore through a face in the Lower Pumpquart seam. The Durham Mining Museum records the ignition as coming from sparks struck by friction between the blades of a compressed-air turbine fan and pieces of stone. Blaenhirwaun closed on 1 September 1962, and its workforce was the first to be transferred to the new Cynheidre complex.

Geology

The colliery worked anthracite near the western extremity of the South Wales coalfield at Cross Hands, taking the Green, Trichwart, Big Vein, Stanllyd, Pumpquart and Gras seams. The Lower Pumpquart, where the 1955 explosion happened, is the seam that gives its name to a whole body of National Coal Board seam analysis for the Cynheidre area.

Geological setting: Sedimentary Beds and Seams (well documented example)

Workings

Two shafts sunk near Cefneithin at the end of the nineteenth century, one of them over two hundred metres deep, served by the Mynydd Mawr railway down to Llanelli.

Closure

Closed on 1 September 1962, its workforce the first to be transferred to Cynheidre.

What remains

The site is landscaped and forms part of the Parc Coetir Mynydd Mawr woodland park, popular with walkers. The Afon Gwendraeth Fawr, which once flowed across the ground, has been culverted, and the traces of the colliery can still be made out despite the landscaping.

Traces of the colliery are still visible in the landscaped ground of the woodland park.

Redevelopment

Parc Coetir Mynydd Mawr, a woodland park on the reclaimed colliery ground.

Related mines

• Carway Colliery — Two Gwendraeth anthracite mines of the same district that both ended by handing their men to Cynheidre — Carway in July 1960 and Blaenhirwaun in September 1962.
• Cynheidre Colliery — Blaenhirwaun closed in 1962 and its workforce was the first to be transferred to the new Cynheidre complex, which was being sunk to take the Gwendraeth anthracite at a scale the older pits could not.
• Llandebie Colliery — Two Carmarthenshire anthracite collieries a few miles apart working the same Pumpquart seam, and both held at the end by the National Coal Board's South Western Division.

Nearby mines

• Cross Hands Colliery — 2.3 km NE
• Emlyn Colliery — 4.3 km E
• Caerbryn Colliery — 4.7 km E
• Gwendraeth Colliery — 4.7 km SW
• Llandebie Colliery — 6.6 km E

Straight-line distance, within 15 km. Show on the map.

Recorded claims

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

• At the end of the nineteenth century the Blaenhirwaun Anthracite Company Ltd sank two shafts near Cefneithin, adjacent to the Mynydd Mawr railway line which ran down the valley to the port of Llanelli; one shaft was over two hundred metres deep and the pit worked six seams — Green, Trichwart, Big Vein, Stanllyd, Pumpquart and Gras. ¹
• S. R. Anthracite Collieries Ltd employed 413 here in 1918 and 592 in 1923, working the Green Vein, Big Vein and Stanllyd; New Blaenhirwaun Anthracite Collieries Ltd became the owners during the 1930s, and the National Coal Board took over in 1947, when 506 were employed and the colliery produced 100,000 tons of anthracite. ^1,2
• On 6 September 1955 an explosion of firedamp occurred, the ignition caused by sparks produced by friction between the blades of a compressed-air turbine fan and pieces of stone. ²
• The Durham Mining Museum records six lives lost. Welsh Coal Mines records five — John Davies, Norris Howells, Thomas Richard Morris and William Henry Richards killed in the initial blast and David Pennington dead some weeks later of severe burns — with thirteen others injured and some badly burnt. (disputed) ^1,2
• Blaenhirwaun closed in 1962, its workforce being the first to be transferred to the Cynheidre complex. ¹
• The colliery ground is part of the Parc Coetir Mynydd Mawr woodland park; the Afon Gwendraeth Fawr that once flowed across it has been culverted, and traces of the colliery can still be seen despite the landscaping. ³

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Blaenhirwaun — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (secondary) Blaenhirwaun Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
3. (observational) Parc Coetir Mynydd Mawr Woodland Park, Geograph 3857491 — Geograph Britain and Ireland

Record created: 10 September 2026 · Last researched: 10 September 2026