Carn Cornel Colliery

Overview

A small licensed mine above Seven Sisters in the Dulais Valley, begun in 1981 by Gwyn Bowen, whose first adit hit the wrong seam; it was worked by hand with horses until a roof fall helped close it in 1998.

History

Carn Cornel Colliery was a small mine on the hillside at Seven Sisters in the Dulais Valley. Gwyn Bowen applied to the National Coal Board for a licence on 31 March 1980, consent was given that November, and the mine started work in 1981. In 1982 he formed the Carn Cornel Colliery Co. Ltd with W. C. 'Will' Jones and Iouth Evans, later joined by Will's nephew Howard Morgan; Will Jones died soon after.

The No. 1 adit had been planned for the Upper Pinchin seam, but on wrong information from the Coal Board it reached the Pantrhydydwr seam instead, and after 100 yards of adit had been driven a No. 2 had to be opened about thirty yards further down the mountain. The mine worked the Upper Pinchin, Pantrhydydwr and Paynes seams, between 2 ft 6 in and 3 ft thick, by hand, with five men and horses, two of them named Bob and Blackie, for haulage.

The Nant Fach Mining Company Ltd took it over in 1996 with a No. 3 level and worked it until 1998, when a large fall in the return airway was one of the reasons for closure. The site was later opencast.

Geology

The Upper Pinchin, Pantrhydydwr and Paynes seams, between 2 ft 6 in and 3 ft thick.

Workings

Adits (Nos. 1, 2 and 3) worked by hand, with horse haulage.

Closure

A large fall in the return airway was one of the reasons for closure in 1998; the Upper Pinchin workings of No. 3 were abandoned on 14 July 1998, and the site was later opencast.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Recorded claims

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

• Gwyn Bowen applied for a licence on 31 March 1980 and the mine started work in 1981. ¹
• The No. 1 adit reached the Pantrhydydwr seam instead of the planned Upper Pinchin. ^1,2
• It employed five men, working by hand with horses for haulage. ¹
• The No. 3 Upper Pinchin workings were abandoned on 14 July 1998. ^1,3
• The Pantrhydydwr and Paynes workings of the three adits were abandoned in 1984. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Welsh Coal Mines: Other small mines — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: CARN CORNEL / THREE ADITS, Pantrhydydwr and Paynes seams, abandoned 1984 — British Geological Survey
3. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: CARN CORNEL NO3, Upper Pinchin seam, abandoned 14 July 1998 — British Geological Survey

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