Cefn Parc Arlais Colliery

Overview

A small coal level at Bryn in the Llynfi Valley, opened in 1952 and worked under a succession of licensees into the 1990s. An explosion caused by a defective safety lamp killed three men on 15 June 1964 (see Disasters, below); a roof fall killed a fourth man in 1975.

History

Cefn Parc Colliery was opened in 1952 at Bryn, three miles north-west of Maesteg in the Llynfi Valley, worked under licence from the National Coal Board by A.R. Williams and David W. Lewis into the 22-inch-thick Cwmmawr seam, with the main slant driven 500 yards north at a dip of 1 in 2.8. From 1954 David Lewis ran it alone with seven men, producing 6,017 tons of coal in 1957 alone; it was renamed Cefn Parc Arlais around this time (Welsh Coal Mines dates the change to 1954, the Northern Mine Research Society to 1956). In 1958 ownership passed to Bryngurnos Colliery (Bryn) Ltd, who started a No.2 Level the same year; the colliery closed in 1962 but reopened in 1964. On 15 June 1964 an explosion caused by a defective safety lamp killed three men underground (see Disasters, below). From 1966 the colliery was owned by Rhys W. Jeffreys of Bryncoch, trading as the Bryn Newydd Colliery Company, working the Cwmmawr and Cwmbyr seams; by the mid-1970s it employed around ten men on a 45-yard conveyor-equipped coalface worked to the retreat, and by the 1980s ran two shifts of four colliers each alongside a deputy, winder, surface fitter and manager. On 29 August 1975 a fall of roof killed a collier, Ken Stevens, aged 50, who left a widow and four young children. The colliery was owned by New Fern Fuels from 1990 until its closure in August 1994; as late as 2009 the Bryn Newydd Colliery Company applied for a licence to work a further level, to be numbered No.4, implying a No.3 had also been driven at some point, though this has not been established.

Geology

Worked the Cwmmawr (22 inches thick), Cwmbyr and Clay coking-coal seams of the Llynfi Valley, part of the South Wales Coalfield.

Workings

A drift/slant mine; the main slant was driven 500 yards north at a dip of 1 in 2.8. By the mid-1970s coal was won from a 45-yard conveyor-equipped coalface worked to the retreat, the conveyor filling directly into tubs hauled to the surface.

Closure

Closed in August 1994 under New Fern Fuels; a 2009 licence application for a further level suggests some later interest in reopening, though nothing is known to have come of it.

What remains

Not established from the sources read for this pass.

Not established from the sources read for this pass.

Redevelopment

Not established from the sources read for this pass.

Nearby mines

• Ynisdavid Colliery — 2.6 km W
• Gin Pit, Maesteg — 3.2 km E, Bridgend
• Cwmavon Copper Works — 3.7 km W
• Coegnant Colliery — 4.2 km E, Bridgend
• Caerau Colliery — 5.1 km E, Bridgend

Straight-line distance, within 15 km. Show on the map.

Disasters & major incidents

• Cefn Parc Arlais Colliery explosion, 1964
  15 June 1964 · Explosion · 3 fatalities
  An explosion of firedamp at Cefn Parc Arlais Colliery, Bryn, killed three men on the morning of 15 June 1964; the deputy's safety lamp was found with its gauze rusted and partly burned away.

Recorded claims

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

• Opened in 1952 at Bryn, three miles north-west of Maesteg, worked into the 22-inch Cwmmawr seam under NCB licence by A.R. Williams and David W. Lewis. ^1,2
• Renamed Cefn Parc Arlais when David Lewis took sole charge; Welsh Coal Mines dates this to 1954, when it worked till 1958 with output of 6,017 tons in 1957 alone, but NMRS dates the closure-and-reopening-under-the-new-name to 1956. (disputed) ^1,2
• Owned by Bryngurnos Colliery (Bryn) Ltd from 1958 (starting a No.2 Level that year), by Rhys W. Jeffreys's Bryn Newydd Colliery Company from 1966, and by New Fern Fuels from 1990 until closure in August 1994. ¹
• An explosion caused by a defective safety lamp killed three men on 15 June 1964 (see Disasters, below); a fall of roof killed a fourth man, Ken Stevens, on 29 August 1975. ^1,3,2

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) West Glamorgan Small Mines (Welsh Coal Mines) — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (secondary) Small Collieries of the Llynfi Valley — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (secondary) 1964 Fatalities (Welsh Coal Mines) — Welsh Coal Mines

Record created: 14 September 2026 · Last researched: 14 September 2026