Cambria Mercantile Colliery

Overview

A small anthracite slant at Ystalyfera working the shallow-dipping Ynysarwed seam, opened in 1905 and renamed Ynysgeinon (or Ynisgynon) around 1915 before its owning company was liquidated in 1921. Its powerhouse and winding house survive, stripped, beside a public footpath.

History

Cambria Mercantile Colliery was opened around 1905 by the Cambria Mercantile Syndicate Limited at Ystalyfera, working the Ynysarwed seam — about 2 feet 7 inches thick locally, dipping at roughly 1 in 14. Employment grew from 77 men in 1907 to a peak of around 148 (per one source) or 122 (per another) working underground in 1912; manpower was still 155 in 1915 under manager John Heathcote. The colliery is not listed for 1917, but appears on the 1921 coalfield map; around this time its name changed to, or it was replaced by, Ynysgeinon (also spelled Ynisgynon), under new ownership as the Ynisgynon Collieries Ltd from 1914–20. The renamed colliery's owning company was liquidated and the mine abandoned in 1921. A Varteg Colliery that opened in the same area in 1925 may represent a reopening of the old workings. The colliery's powerhouse and winding house survive today, though completely stripped of equipment, on a public footpath.

Geology

Worked the Ynysarwed seam of the South Wales Coalfield's anthracite belt.

Workings

A slant working the Ynysarwed seam (2ft 7in thick, dipping about 1 in 14).

Closure

Its owning company, by then trading as Ynisgynon Collieries Ltd, was liquidated and the mine abandoned in 1921.

What remains

The powerhouse and winding house survive, completely stripped, beside a public footpath.

Nearby mines

• Gleision Colliery — 0.9 km SW
• Pwllbach Colliery — 1.3 km N
• Tarenni Colliery — 1.4 km SW
• Crynant Colliery — 4.1 km SE
• Yniscedwyn Colliery — 4.1 km NE, Powys

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.

• Opened around 1905 by the Cambria Mercantile Syndicate Limited, working the Ynysarwed seam (about 2ft 7in thick, dipping roughly 1 in 14). ^1,2
• Employment grew from 77 men in 1907 to a 1912 peak recorded as either 148 or 122 men; the colliery was renamed or replaced by Ynysgeinon (Ynisgynon) around 1914–15 under new ownership. (disputed) ^1,2
• The owning company, by then Ynisgynon Collieries Ltd, was liquidated and the mine abandoned in 1921; a Varteg Colliery opened in the same area in 1925 may be a reopening. ^1,2
• The powerhouse and winding house survive, stripped, beside a public footpath. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Small Collieries at Resolven — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Ynysgeinon Colliery — Buddlepit Mine Database

Record created: 15 September 2026 · Last researched: 15 September 2026