Cefn Slip Colliery

Overview

A colliery near Tondu and Cefn Cribwr, sunk in the 1860s to feed the Cefn Iron Works and worked by the Bryndu companies, employing over 450 men in the 1900s before flooding closed it around 1918.

History

Cefn Slip Colliery lay near Tondu, on the difficult southern outcrop of the coalfield. The Cefn Slip Colliery Company sank it in the 1860s to supply the Cefn Iron Works, and a Cefn Slip Level was being worked by 1871. In 1899 it belonged to the Bryndu and Port Talbot Collieries Company, and by 1909 to the Bryndu Colliery Company, owned by C. Davies of Cefn Cribwr. It raised coking, manufacturing and house coal, and its workforce grew from 333 in 1899 to 479 in 1910 and 469 in 1911. The colliery's record of deaths was long: men were run over or crushed by drams and journeys, killed by falls of roof and coal, and in 1910 overcome by gas; in October 1902 a fall of coal killed two men holing out together (see Disasters, below). The Cribbwr and Five Quarter seams of Cefn Slip and the neighbouring Cefn Old (Bryndu) workings were abandoned in 1912, and the colliery closed because of flooding in about 1918.

Geology

Southern outcrop of the South Wales Coalfield: the Cribbwr and Five Quarter seams.

Workings

A slant worked with journeys of drams; plans of 1912 cover Cefn Slip with Cefn Old (Bryndu) Nos. 1 and 2 and Jenkin's Patch.

Closure

Closed because of flooding in about 1918; the Cribbwr and Five Quarter seams had been abandoned in 1912.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Bryndu Colliery — Both fed the Cefn Iron Works under the Bryndu companies; the 1912 abandonment plans cover Cefn Slip with Cefn Old (Bryndu).

Disasters & major incidents

• Cefn Slip Colliery fall of coal, 1902
  October 1902 · Collapse / Roof Fall · 2 fatalities
  Two men were killed by a fall of coal at the face of Cefn Slip Colliery in October 1902, the coal slipping suddenly from the upper side of a long cut held by a single sprag.

Recorded claims

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

• The Cefn Slip Colliery Company sank it in the 1860s to feed the Cefn Iron Works. ¹
• It belonged to the Bryndu and Port Talbot Collieries Company in 1899 and to the Bryndu Colliery Company by 1909. ¹
• It employed 469 men in 1911. ¹
• A collier was killed by a fall of coal at the Cefn Slip Level in 1871. ²
• On 12 October 1902 a fall of coal killed two colliers holing out at Cefn Slip. ³
• In 1910 a repairer riding a journey illegally was killed when the rope broke on the incline. ⁴
• The Cribbwr and Five Quarter seams of Cefn Slip and Cefn Old (Bryndu) were abandoned in 1912. ⁵
• It closed because of flooding in about 1918. ¹

Sources

1. (secondary) Cefn Slip Colliery — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Fatalities 1871 — Welsh Coal Mines
3. (secondary) Welsh coal mining fatalities, 1902 — Welsh Coal Mines
4. (secondary) Welsh Coal Mines fatalities, 1910 — Welsh Coal Mines
5. (primary) BGS mine plans: Cefn Slip and Cefn Old (Bryndu), Nos 1 & 2, Jenkin's Patch; Cribbwr and Five Quarter, abandoned 1912 — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority
6. (secondary) Welsh coal mining fatalities, 1882 — Welsh Coal Mines

Record created: 16 October 2026 · Last researched: 16 October 2026