Bres Colliery

Overview

Llanelli's earliest deep pit, opened by Roderick and Bowen after 1794 and sunk to the Bushy seam at 580 feet by the Pemberton family. It became part of the Llanelly Copperworks Company's Old Castle complex, and water from its old workings drowned six men at Old Castle in 1862; the complex was abandoned in 1889.

History

Bres Colliery, on Bres Road in Llanelli, was the town's earliest deep pit. In 1794 Sir John Stepney leased land to the partnership of Roderick and Bowen, Roderick, Bowen and Griffiths by another account, who opened pits at Llannerch, Talsarnau and the Wern and also the Bres pit. The Pemberton family from the north of England, who acquired some of Roderick and Bowen's collieries in 1804, took it over and sank it to the Bushy seam at 580 feet (177 metres). It was later worked by George Bruin of London and finally by the Llanelly Copperworks Company, which brought it into its Old Castle Colliery complex. Its abandoned workings were the source of the Old Castle disaster of 3 July 1862, when water from the old Bres workings broke into the Bushy seam at Old Castle and drowned six men. Worked together as the 'Old Castle and Bres Collieries' across almost two miles of the Rosy, Fiery, Golden and Bushy seams, from the Stradey fault in the west to the Box fault in the east, the complex was finally abandoned in May 1889.

Geology

Steam coal seams of the Llanelli district of the South Wales coalfield: the Rosy, Fiery, Golden and Bushy, between the Stradey and Box faults.

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

Workings

A shaft sunk by the Pemberton family to the Bushy seam at 580 feet (177 m); later part of the Old Castle complex, with workings in the Rosy, Fiery, Golden and Bushy seams between the Stradey and Box faults.

Closure

Worked as part of the 'Old Castle and Bres Collieries' until final abandonment in May 1889 (Llanelli Community Heritage).

What remains

The colliery is commemorated by a Llanelli Community Heritage blue plaque.

Unknown.

Related mines

• Old Castle Colliery — Bres was incorporated into the Llanelly Copperworks Company's Old Castle complex, worked as the Old Castle and Bres Collieries; water from the old Bres workings flooded Old Castle in 1862.

People

• John Stepney · landowner, 1794 — Leased the land to Roderick and Bowen in 1794.

Recorded claims

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

• Bres Colliery, the earliest deep pit at Llanelli, was opened by Roderick, Bowen and Griffiths in 1794, taken over by the Pemberton family in 1804 and sunk to the Bushy seam at 177 m (580 feet); later worked by George Bruin and finally by the Llanelly Copperworks Company. ¹
• In 1794 Sir John Stepney leased lands to Roderick and Bowen, who opened pits at Llannerch, Talsarnau and the Wern and also the Bres pit; the Pembertons acquired some of Roderick and Bowen's collieries in 1804 and owned the Bres colliery. ²
• On 3 July 1862 an inrush of water from old workings of the adjacent Bres colliery trapped and drowned six men at Old Castle Colliery. ³
• The Old Castle complex, including Bres, operated as 'Old Castle and Bres Collieries' until final abandonment in May 1889. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Bres Colliery (blue plaque) — Llanelli Community Heritage
2. (secondary) A History of Carmarthenshire (J. E. Lloyd ed.): coal mining in Llanelly — GENUKI
3. (secondary) Castle Colliery (Old Castle section) — Welsh Coal Mines
4. (primary) Bres (Mining Remediation Authority abandonment plan, via BGS catalogue item 21891818) — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority

Record created: 19 September 2026 · Last researched: 19 September 2026