Callands Pit

Overview

The pumping and downcast shaft of Pentre Colliery at Pen-filia near Landore, sunk in 1762 by Chauncey Townsend and given a steam pumping engine in 1768, which worked under a run of owners until 1924; its closure left neighbouring Tirdonkin open to flooding.

History

Callands Pit was the pumping and downcast shaft of Pentre Colliery, at Pen-filia near Landore, Swansea. It was sunk in 1762 by Chauncey Townsend, with water-powered winding gear, and fitted with a steam pumping engine in 1768. An explosion on 9 January 1816 killed two men and badly burnt five others. The Calland after whom the pit was known ran an earthenware pottery close by at Landore from 1848 to 1856.

In 1840 Pentre belonged to John Morris and George Byng Morris, and from 1843 to G. B. Morris alone. Between 1846 and 1849 it was the subject of a well-known court case over the drainage of other mines in the area. By 1865 it belonged to Vivian & Sons. In 1891 it had a downcast shaft 403 feet deep and an upcast 432 feet deep, employed 285 men and was ventilated by a 'waterfall'. In 1895 the colliery was described as two shafts sunk more than eighty years before to the Six-Feet seam: Calland's, the downcast and pumping shaft, 134 yards deep, and the upcast and winding shaft 300 yards to the west, 144 yards deep. The Six-Feet, Three-Feet and Two-Feet seams were by then exhausted, and the upcast was being deepened to the Hughes.

The mine closed in November 1904. Pentre Collieries & Brickworks Ltd reopened it in 1913, employing as many as 371 in 1920, and worked it until June 1924; its closure left the neighbouring Tirdonkin Colliery open to flooding. In 1933 Calland's pump engine house was still standing.

Geology

The Swansea Six-Feet, Three-Feet and Two-Feet seams; the upcast was deepened towards the Hughes in the 1890s.

Workings

Two shafts in 1895: Calland's, the downcast and pumping shaft, 134 yards, and the upcast and winding shaft 300 yards west, 144 yards; ventilated by a 'waterfall' in 1891.

Closure

Closed in November 1904; reopened in 1913 and closed again in June 1924, leaving Tirdonkin open to flooding. The Six, Three and Two Feet workings are on an abandonment plan of 1917.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Cefngyfelach Colliery — Pentre, Callands and Cefngyfelach share a 1917 abandonment plan.
• Tirdonkin Colliery — Tirdonkin abandoned its Three-Feet seam in June 1928 when the closure of Callands left it open to flooding.

Recorded claims

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

• Sunk in 1762 by Chauncey Townsend with water-powered winding gear; a steam pumping engine was fitted in 1768. ¹
• An explosion on 9 January 1816 killed two men and badly burnt five others. ¹
• In 1891 the downcast was 403 feet and the upcast 432 feet deep, and 285 men were employed. ¹
• In 1895 Calland's, the downcast and pumping shaft, was 134 yards deep and the upcast 144 yards. ¹
• The Six-Feet, Three-Feet and Two-Feet workings of Pentre and Callands are on an abandonment plan of 1917. ²
• Reopened in 1913, it closed in June 1924. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Mynydd Newydd Colliery — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: PENTRE / CALLANDS / CEFNGYFELACH, Six, Three and Two Feet seams, abandoned 1917 — British Geological Survey

Record created: 10 October 2026 · Last researched: 10 October 2026