Bolgoed Colliery

Overview

A pit near Pontardulais whose plant was sold off in 1878, abandoned in 1882 and sunk anew without success in 1890-94, with a separate Bolgoed Slant worked for coal and brick clay from 1908 to 1916.

History

Bolgoed Colliery lay near Pontardulais, alongside the turnpike road and about a mile and a quarter from the Great Western and London and North Western stations there. In March 1878 its plant was offered for sale by auction: an eight horse-power portable engine with winding gear, chain, a winding barrel, pumps and pipes, rails, underground trams, a weighing machine, and the contents of the smithy.

The pit was abandoned in 1882. William Williams tried to reopen it in 1888 and in 1890 began to sink a new pit, but he did not strike coal until 1893 and abandoned the pit the next year. Its plans record workings in the Gelli seam.

A separate Bolgoed Slant, a little to the east, was opened by the Bolgoed Coal and Brick Company in 1908 to work the Penscallen seam; the Pontardulais Coal and Brick Company worked it in 1910, with 11 men in 1912, and it was abandoned in 1916.

Geology

The Gelli seam in the pit; the Penscallen seam in the later slant.

Workings

A pit with an eight horse-power portable winding engine in 1878; a new pit sunk 1890-93; the Bolgoed Slant of 1908.

Closure

The pit was abandoned in 1882 and again in 1894; the Bolgoed Slant was abandoned in 1916.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Recorded claims

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

• In March 1878 the colliery plant, including an eight horse-power portable engine and winding gear, was offered for sale. ¹
• The colliery lay alongside the turnpike road about a mile and a quarter from the stations at Pontardulais. ¹
• Abandoned in 1882; a new pit sunk from 1890 struck coal in 1893 and was abandoned in 1894. ²
• The Bolgoed Slant was opened in 1908 to work the Penscallen seam and abandoned in 1916. ²
• Plans record workings in the Gelli seam. ³

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Sale of colliery plant at Bolgoed Colliery (Western Mail, 21 March 1878, advertisement) — Welsh Newspapers Online (National Library of Wales)
2. (secondary) Small Collieries of the Amman Valley — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (primary) Bolgoed Mine Plans (Mining Remediation Authority plan SWR3133, Gelli seam) — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority

Record created: 15 September 2026 · Last researched: 9 October 2026