Brynmally Colliery

Overview

A Denbighshire colliery at Moss near Wrexham, probably sunk in the late 1830s or early 1840s and bought by Thomas Clayton and Company in 1849. It was also known as Pwll y Pendwll. Water broke into its No. 3 pit in 1856, drowning thirteen, and an explosion in the Queen seam of the No. 1 pit in 1889 killed twenty men and boys, many of them children.

History

The colliery was probably sunk in the late 1830s or early 1840s, and was purchased by Thomas Clayton and Company in 1849. It also went by the name Pwll y Pendwll. On Tuesday 30 September 1856 water broke into the No. 3 pit and thirteen men lost their lives; the first body was not recovered until 26 October, nearly four weeks later. Among the dead were Edward Cunnah, twenty-six, who left a wife and one child; Steven Davies, twenty-eight, a wife and one child; and Ishmael Evans, who left a wife and four children. On 13 March 1889 an explosion killed twenty men and boys. The cause was put down to a fall bringing down an outburst of firedamp which was ignited by a naked flame. The dead included waggoners and pony drivers of fourteen and sixteen — James Davies, a waggoner of fourteen; Thomas Davies, a pony driver of sixteen; Edward W. Edwards, a waggoner of fourteen.

Geology

The colliery worked the Coal Measures of the Denbighshire coalfield, the North Wales field that runs south from the Dee estuary past Wrexham. The Queen seam, named in the 1889 accident, was among its productive coals. Water was a serious hazard in this coalfield's shallower workings, as the inundation of the No. 3 pit in 1856 shows.

Workings

Several shafts, of which the No. 1 and No. 3 pits are named in the accident records. The No. 1 pit worked the Upper and Lower Queen seams. The colliery is also recorded under the name Pwll y Pendwll.

Closure

No reliable closure date has been located for this colliery.

What remains

No account of the present state of the site has been found; the Welsh Coal Mines page for the colliery is marked as still requiring a photograph.

Not established.

Nearby mines

• Minera Lead Mines — 1.1 km NW
• Bersham Colliery — 4.2 km S
• Gresford Colliery — 4.6 km NE
• Llay Main Colliery — 5.0 km NE
• Wynnstay Colliery — 6.7 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.

• The colliery was probably sunk in the late 1830s or early 1840s and was purchased by Thomas Clayton and Company in 1849. It also went by the name Pwll y Pendwll. (medium) ¹
• Water broke into the No. 3 pit on Tuesday 30 September 1856 and thirteen men lost their lives; the first body was not recovered until 26 October. (medium) ¹
• An explosion on 13 March 1889 killed twenty men and boys. The cause was blamed on a fall bringing down an outburst of firedamp which was ignited by a naked flame. (medium) ^1,2
• Several of those killed in 1889 were children: James Davies, a waggoner, was fourteen; Thomas Davies, a pony driver, sixteen; Edward W. Edwards, a waggoner, fourteen. (medium) ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Brynmally Colliery, Moss, near Wrexham — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (secondary) Welsh mining disasters: list of accidents with five or more fatalities — Welsh Coal Mines

Record created: 3 September 2026 · Last researched: 3 September 2026