Brynna Colliery

Overview

Coal workings in Brynna Woods near Llanharan: a nineteenth-century pit called Brynna Gwynion, long troubled by water, then three drifts of the 1910s and 1920s working the Lantern seam for house coal under the village above.

History

Coal was worked in what is now Brynna Woods, near Llanharan, from the 1840s; a newspaper reported a drowning in the colliery in 1844. Irving Clark opened a colliery there around 1850 known as Brynna Gwynion, which by the 1860s had two shafts of 51 and 75 yards, with an engine house, coke ovens, furnace and waterwheel, and a tramway to the main line. Water was a constant problem: the owners tried repeatedly to sell it, a further shaft was abandoned to flooding, and in 1880 it belonged to the Barrow Haematite Steel Co. Ltd. Its plant was auctioned in October 1882.

Drift mining resumed on a small scale from the 1890s. The No. 1 drift was opened in 1914, the No. 2, a return airway, in 1915 and the No. 3 about 1922-23, working the Two Feet Nine, here called the Lantern, about 48 inches thick. The Brynna Gas Coal Collieries Ltd. worked it for house coal from 1917, and as Brynna Collieries Ltd. in 1923 it employed 402 men at Nos. 1 and 2 and 133 at No. 3, raising 75,000 tons. In August 1928 the South Wales Miners' Federation signed up 80 per cent of the men for the first time since 1926; the No. 3 was abandoned that year.

Manpower fell to 36 in 1933, when, by one account, mining in the woods ended; another records 260 men and 75,000 tons in 1938. The workings ran under Brynna village and caused subsidence in William Street.

Geology

Coal Measures of the South Wales Coalfield. The drifts worked the Two Feet Nine seam, called locally the Lantern, about 48 inches thick, and its rider, for house coal; the No. 3 slant also worked the Rider seam.

Workings

The nineteenth-century Brynna Gwynion pit had two shafts of 51 and 75 yards and an abandoned third; from 1914 three drifts in Brynna Woods, Nos. 1 and 3 productive and No. 2 the return airway, with workings extending north-west under Brynna village.

Closure

The Brynna Gwynion pit probably closed in the 1880s because of flooding, its plant sold in October 1882. The No. 3 drift was abandoned in 1928; mining in the woods is said to have ceased in 1933, though employment of 260 men is recorded in 1938.

What remains

The site lies in Brynna Woods, a 38-hectare woodland between Brynna and Bryncae with footpaths and remnants of the coal mining.

The base of the power-house chimney stack, the No. 2 ventilation housing, the portal of the No. 3 slant and a water culvert near the No. 1 slant are visible.

Redevelopment

The woodland is a public open space with footpaths, circular walks and wooden sculptures.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• Mining ceased completely in Brynna Woods in 1933. (uncertain) ¹
• It employed 260 men and produced 75,000 tons in 1938. (uncertain) ²

Recorded claims

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

• Irving Clark opened a colliery here around 1850 called Brynna Gwynnon. ¹
• In 1880 the colliery belonged to the Barrow Haematite Steel Co. Ltd. ¹
• In October 1882 the colliery's equipment was sold at auction, including winding and pumping engines, boilers, water wheels and 50 trams. ²
• The No. 1 entrance was opened in 1914, the No. 2 in 1915 and the No. 3 in 1923; Nos. 1 and 3 were productive and No. 2 the return. ^1,2
• It worked the Two Feet Nine seam, which it called the Lantern seam, about 48 inches thick. ^2,3
• In 1923 it employed 402 men at Nos. 1 and 2 and 133 at No. 3, and produced 75,000 tons. ^1,2
• In August 1928 the South Wales Miners' Federation recruited 80 per cent of the workforce, for the first time since 1926. ²
• The No. 3 was abandoned in 1928. ^1,2,3
• Mining ceased completely in Brynna Woods in 1933. (uncertain) ¹
• It employed 260 men and produced 75,000 tons in 1938. (uncertain) ²
• Brynna Woods is a 38-hectare woodland with remnants of the area's coal-mining history. ⁴

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Welsh Coal Mines: Brynna — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (secondary) Brynna Colliery — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (primary) BGS mine plan: Brynna No 1 Slant (Lantern), No 3, Llanharan (Two Feet Nine Rider) — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority
4. (observational) Brynna Woods pond (photograph and description, 2026) — Geograph Britain and Ireland

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