Broad Oak Colliery, Loughor

Overview

A colliery on the Loughor river sunk by Thomas Edwards probably in the late 1820s, worked into the 20th century under a succession of owners and closed in March 1948. An explosion killed five men in 1897 (see Disasters, below); its Victorian beam winding engine, still in use into the 1940s, was said to be the last of its type working in Britain.

History

Thomas Edwards sank the first Broad Oak Colliery, probably in the late 1820s, a short distance upstream from the present-day road bridge over the Loughor river. By 1833 it employed around 100 men, raising 60 to 100 tons of coal a day. Ownership passed to George Wilkinson and, by the 1842 Royal Commission report, to William Cameron; James Banfield, who formed the Broadoak Colliery Company, owned it by 1869. Two shafts, each 200 yards deep, worked the Swansea 3, 4, 5 and 6 feet seams. By the 1896 Inspector of Mines list the colliery employed 83 men under owner Samuel Thomas. An explosion on 5 January 1897 killed five men (see Disasters, below). The colliery was connected underground to a small drift, Cae Copin Colliery, also in Loughor, last worked around 1910 though not sealed until 1995. By 1923 Broad Oak employed 234 men, working the Five and Six Feet seams; under later owners B. and B.G. Collieries Ltd it employed over 300 men in 1935, falling to 191 by 1945. It closed in March 1948, a year after nationalisation. The colliery's Victorian beam winding engine — originally a single-cylinder engine with its second cylinder, from the old Cwmbach Colliery at Cockett, added by Benjamin Hughes of Loughor Foundry in 1892 or 1893 — carried the date 1839 and the maker's name Varteg Iron Works on its beam; an August 1944 trade article described it as the only engine of its type still used for winding men and minerals anywhere in Britain. A Cornish-type beam pump at the colliery was believed to have come from the old Bryncoch Colliery, drowned at 11am on 6 April 1859.

Geology

Worked the Swansea 3, 4, 5 and 6 feet seams, and later the Five and Six Feet seams, of the South Wales Coalfield.

Workings

Two shafts, each 200 yards deep, wound by a double-beam steam engine; connected underground to the small Cae Copin drift, also in Loughor.

Closure

Closed in March 1948, a year after the coal industry's nationalisation.

What remains

Not established from the sources read for this pass.

Not established from the sources read for this pass.

Redevelopment

Not established from the sources read for this pass.

Nearby mines

• Brynlliw Colliery — 1.6 km NE
• Elba Colliery — 2.1 km S
• Morlais Colliery — 2.3 km NW, Carmarthenshire
• Berthlwyd Colliery — 2.7 km S
• Wernbwll Colliery — 4.0 km S

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

Disasters & major incidents

• Broadoak Colliery explosion, 1897
  5 January 1897 · Explosion · 5 fatalities
  An explosion at Broadoak Colliery, Loughor, killed five men on the morning of 5 January 1897, after the night-shift fireman's own safety lamp was found to have been opened; a jury found no culpable negligence.

Recorded claims

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

• Sunk by Thomas Edwards, probably in the late 1820s; by 1833 employed about 100 men raising 60-100 tons a day. ¹
• Passed through George Wilkinson, William Cameron (by 1842), and James Banfield's Broadoak Colliery Co. (by 1869) to Samuel Thomas (by 1896) and later B. and B.G. Collieries Ltd. ¹
• The colliery's Victorian double-beam winding engine, its second cylinder added in 1892/93 from the old Cwmbach Colliery, Cockett, was described in a 1944 trade article as the last engine of its type still winding men and minerals in Britain. ¹
• Closed in March 1948, a year after nationalisation. ¹
• An explosion on 5 January 1897 killed five men, the pit's fireman and four colliers (see Disasters, below). ^1,2

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Broad Oak (Welsh Coal Mines) — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (secondary) Broadoak Colliery Explosion - Loughor - 1897 — Northern Mine Research Society

Record created: 13 September 2026 · Last researched: 14 September 2026