Cefngyfelach Colliery

Overview

A Llangyfelach colliery opened about 1880 on the site of an older pit, which fuelled the Cwmfelin tinplate works, got its own mineral railway in 1896 and was worked with the deeper Tirdonkin pit until it closed about 1910.

History

Cefngyfelach Colliery, at Llangyfelach north of Swansea, was opened about 1880 on the site of the old Pwll Bach colliery, sunk by Edward Daniel of Cwmgelly and shown as an 'old pit' on the Ordnance Survey map of 1878. Its shafts were 64 yards deep and it was ventilated by a furnace. By 1893 it belonged to the Cwmfelin Tinplate Co., which worked it to fuel its tinworks.

In 1896 the Cefn Gyfelach Colliery Co. of Swansea employed 116 men underground and 32 on the surface, raising house and manufacturing coal under the manager William Morgan. That year work began on a £7,000 mineral railway from the colliery to the Great Western Railway at Cwmfelin; finished within four months, it replaced the horses and carts that had carried the coal.

In 1903 the company became the Tirdonkin Colliery Co. Ltd, and Cefngyfelach was linked underground to its new Tirdonkin pit. It worked the Three-Feet, Five-Feet and Six-Feet seams; in 1908 it employed 297 men underground and 59 on the surface under William H. Jones, and that year an assistant repairer, James Jones, was killed by a fall of roof. The Five-Feet workings had been abandoned in 1903 and the Six-Feet and Three-Feet were abandoned in 1908. The colliery closed about 1910.

Geology

The Swansea Three-Feet, Five-Feet and Six-Feet seams.

Workings

Shafts 64 yards deep, ventilated by a furnace; linked underground to Tirdonkin Colliery; a mineral railway to the Great Western Railway at Cwmfelin from 1896.

Closure

The Five-Feet workings were abandoned in 1903 and the Six-Feet and Three-Feet in 1908; the colliery closed about 1910.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Callands Pit — Pentre, Callands and Cefngyfelach share a 1917 abandonment plan.
• Tirdonkin Colliery — The same company from 1903; Cefngyfelach was linked to Tirdonkin underground.

Recorded claims

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

• Opened about 1880 on the site of the old Pwll Bach colliery. ¹
• By 1893 it belonged to the Cwmfelin Tinplate Co., to fuel its tinworks. ¹
• In 1896 a £7,000 mineral railway was built from the colliery to the Great Western Railway at Cwmfelin in four months. ¹
• From 1903 it belonged to the Tirdonkin Colliery Co. Ltd and was linked underground to Tirdonkin. ^1,2
• The Five-Feet workings were abandoned in 1903 and the Six-Feet and Three-Feet in 1908. ^3,4
• James Jones, an assistant repairer, was killed by a fall of roof on 24 October 1908. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Cribwr Fawr — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (secondary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: James Jones, Cefn Gyfelach, Llangyfelach, 24 October 1908 — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: CEFNGYFELACH, Five Feet seam, abandoned 1903 — British Geological Survey
4. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: CEFNGYFELACH, Six Feet and Three Feet seams, abandoned 1908 — British Geological Survey

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