Bodringallt Colliery

Overview

A steam-coal pit at Ystrad in the Rhondda Fawr, sunk by Warner, Simpson and Company in 1864 and raising over 34,000 tons within its first year. Its tramway and the Taff Vale Railway's new station at Ystrad drew the ribbon of terraces that became the village. David Davis and Sons bought it in 1889 and worked it as Ferndale No. 3; Cory Brothers later restored the old name. Production stopped in 1936, after which it pumped and ventilated for the Ferndale pits until it finally closed in 1959.

History

Warner, Simpson and Company sank Bodringallt in 1864, and the colliery produced more than 34,000 tons of coal in its first year. Its tramway, and the station the Taff Vale Railway opened at Ystrad in 1861, shaped the settlement: Heneb's historic landscape survey describes the linear ribbon of terraces along the main road through the Rhondda Fawr growing from the 1860s around Bodringallt, Pentre and Ty'n-y-bedw collieries. The colliery's brickworks became the second largest in the Rhondda after Llwynypia, sending bricks across the South Wales coalfield for walling shafts and building colliery buildings and houses. By 1880 the pit was owned by Davies and Warner. On 23 June 1882 a fire in the underground stables killed twelve horses. Output in 1887 was 216,819 tons. In 1889 David Davis and Sons bought the colliery and it became Ferndale No. 3: the downcast was 13 feet across and 720 feet deep, the upcast 11 feet and 726 feet. The 1896 Inspector of Mines list gives 930 men at Ferndale No. 3, falling to 653 by 1908. The wooden pithead frame was replaced with iron in 1905, and in 1913 subsidence so badly damaged the upcast shaft that a new one had to be sunk. Cory Brothers and Company later took the colliery over -- restoring the name Bodringallt -- and in 1918 the workforce was 392. The shafts were deepened between 1922 and 1925 to 354 yards, and a report of 1923 has the pit working the Six Feet, Nine Feet, Red and Two Feet Nine seams.

Geology

Rhondda steam coals of the Lower Coal Measures: the Six Feet, Nine Feet, Red and Two Feet Nine seams, reached at 720 feet and, after the deepening of 1922-25, at 354 yards.

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

Workings

Two shafts: a downcast 13 feet in diameter and 720 feet deep and an upcast 11 feet and 726 feet, the latter replaced after subsidence damage in 1913. The wooden headframe gave way to an iron one in 1905 and the shafts were deepened to 354 yards between 1922 and 1925. A colliery brickworks on the site was the Rhondda's second largest after Llwynypia.

Closure

Production ceased in 1936, after which the colliery was kept for pumping and ventilating the Ferndale Nos. 1 and 5 pits, and it closed finally in 1959. The site was later cleared and landscaped.

What remains

Unknown.

Unknown; the site was cleared and landscaped after closure.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Ferndale Collieries — Bought by David Davis and Sons in 1889 and worked as Ferndale No. 3, and after production ceased in 1936 it pumped and ventilated for Ferndale Nos. 1 and 5 until 1959.

Nearby mines

• Pentre Colliery — 1.3 km NW
• Tynybedw Colliery — 1.8 km NW
• Glamorgan Colliery — 2.7 km SE
• Blaenclydach Colliery — 2.8 km S
• Cambrian Colliery — 2.8 km S

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.

• Warner, Simpson and Company sank Bodringallt Colliery in 1864, and it produced over 34,000 tons of coal within its first year. ^1,2
• Bodringallt was one of three collieries around which the ribbon settlement of Ystrad and Pentre grew from the 1860s, helped by the Taff Vale Railway station opened at Ystrad in 1861. ²
• A fire in the underground stables on 23 June 1882 killed twelve horses. ¹
• David Davis and Sons bought the colliery in 1889 and worked it as Ferndale No. 3; Cory Brothers and Company later took it over and the original name was restored. ¹
• As Ferndale No. 3 the downcast shaft was 13 feet in diameter and 720 feet deep and the upcast 11 feet and 726 feet; subsidence damaged the upcast so badly in 1913 that a new shaft was sunk. ¹
• Production ceased in 1936, after which the colliery pumped and ventilated for Ferndale Nos. 1 and 5 until it closed in 1959. ¹
• The colliery's brickworks was the second largest producer in the Rhondda after Llwynypia, supplying bricks across the coalfield for walling shafts and building colliery buildings and houses. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Bodringallt — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (secondary) Ystrad and Pentre - Historic Landscape Character Area — Heneb: The Trust for Welsh Archaeology

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