Collena Colliery

Overview

A drift colliery at Tonyrefail in the Ely valley, offered for auction in 1874 with 32 coke ovens and a 60-year lease, and worked from the 1890s by the Glyn Colliery Company until 1910. A new drift was flooded from old workings in 1891, drowning one man.

History

Collena Colliery lay at Tonyrefail in the Ely valley, a hundred yards east of the Caerlan Colliery and about 900 yards south of Cilely. It appears in 1865-70 in the ownership of a Mr Pritchard. In June 1874 it was put up for auction as a going concern, with new plant and machinery including 32 coke ovens, a smith's shop, stabling, engine houses, a weighbridge and sidings on the Ely Valley branch of the Great Western Railway, and 170 acres of mineral on a 60-year lease, taking in the No. 1, 2 and 3 Rhondda, Hafod and Abergorky seams.

By 1891 the Glyn Colliery Company was sinking a New Drift to the No. 3 Rhondda house-coal seam. On the afternoon of 28 September 1891 water from the adjoining old workings broke in without warning; two of the three men in the drift escaped with slight injuries, but Thomas Rees, of Pantybrach, about 35, was drowned. In 1893 the Glyn company, of Aberdare, had R. Abraham as manager. The colliery produced 23,748 tons in 1894 and employed 82 men in 1896 under Thomas Williams, 163 in 1899 and 216 in 1900-01.

The main drift was lined with stone and driven 250 yards, dipping 30 inches to the yard, into the No. 3 Rhondda seam, 31 to 36 inches thick. From the levels driven east and west, narrow 'top holes' six feet wide were driven every 22 yards and then widened by the colliers until they met the next workings. In July 1902 an explosion of gas burned three men preparing working places; one, Robert Evans, died. That December a collier was fined for having an unlocked lamp and a bent nail for opening it in the most dangerous part of the pit, near old workings where only safety lamps were used, and the fan engineman for sleeping on duty after sixteen hours' work; some 70 to 75 men were then underground. The No. 3 Rhondda was abandoned from the No. 3 level in July 1903, and the colliery went on in the No. 2 Rhondda, 57 inches with dirt partings, the No. 1 Rhondda Rider and the Hafod, ventilated by an eight-foot Schiele fan. It employed 192 men in 1908 under Gomer Evans and closed in 1910.

Geology

The No. 3 Rhondda seam (31 to 36 inches) and later the No. 2 Rhondda (57 inches with dirt partings), the No. 1 Rhondda Rider and the Hafod; the 1874 lease also took in the No. 1 Rhondda and Abergorky seams.

Workings

A stone-lined main drift 250 yards long dipping 30 inches to the yard, with levels east and west and 'top holes' every 22 yards; a New Drift sunk in 1891; ventilated by an eight-foot Schiele fan; coke ovens at the surface in 1874.

Closure

The No. 3 Rhondda seam was abandoned from the No. 3 level in July 1903; the colliery closed in 1910, when its remaining seams were abandoned.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Glyn Colliery, Tonyrefail — Neighbouring Tonyrefail collieries, both worked by the Glyn Colliery Company in the 1890s.

Recorded claims

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

• In June 1874 the colliery was offered for auction with 32 coke ovens and a 60-year lease of 170 acres. ¹
• On 28 September 1891 water from old workings flooded the New Drift and drowned Thomas Rees. ^2,3
• The Glyn Colliery Company owned it in the 1890s. ^1,3
• A gas explosion in July 1902 killed Robert Evans and injured two other men. ⁴
• The No. 3 Rhondda seam was abandoned from the No. 3 level in July 1903. ^1,5
• The colliery closed in 1910. ^1,6

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) NMRS: Collena Colliery — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (primary) South Wales Echo, 30 September 1891: Fatal colliery accident at Tonyrefail — Welsh Newspapers Online (National Library of Wales)
3. (primary) The South Wales Star, 2 October 1891: An Ely colliery flooded — Welsh Newspapers Online (National Library of Wales)
4. (primary) Weekly Mail, 26 July 1902: Colliery explosion, one man killed and two injured at Tonyrefail — Welsh Newspapers Online (National Library of Wales)
5. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: COLLENA NO 3 (No 3 Rhondda, abandoned 1903) — British Geological Survey
6. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: COLLENA (No 2 Rhondda, No 3 Rhondda, Hafod and Abergorchi, abandoned 1910) — British Geological Survey
7. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: COLLENA, UNNAMED PIT, UNNAMED ADITS (No 3 Rhondda) — British Geological Survey
8. (primary) The Rhondda Leader, 13 December 1902: Colliery offences — Welsh Newspapers Online (National Library of Wales)

Record created: 11 October 2026 · Last researched: 11 October 2026