Coytrahen Park Colliery

Overview

A slant colliery near Tondu, opened in 1906, that worked the Malthouse and Rock Fawr seams for South Wales gas works and employed up to 389 men before it closed in December 1928.

History

Coytrahen Park Colliery was a slant colliery near Tondu, owned by the Coytrahen Park Colliery Co. Ltd of Swansea. It had two sections, No. 1 and No. 2, usually counted as one colliery: No. 1 began in 1906 and No. 2 about five years later. It employed 32 men in 1906 and 275 by 1910.

At first the Rock Fawr seam was worked together with the Craigafon, but work in the Craigafon was abandoned on 16 December 1908, and the Malthouse seam was opened later. At No. 1 the Malthouse was 4 ft 3 in thick and the Rock Fawr 2 ft 6 in to 3 ft; at No. 2 the Rock Fawr averaged 3 to 4 ft. The rock roof over the Rock Fawr was a great help in working it. Both seams were rich in volatile matter and were especially wanted by the gas works of South Wales.

There were 360 men in 1923, 389 in 1927 and 64 in 1928. The colliery closed on 12 December 1928, and its Rock Fawr and Malthouse workings were abandoned that year. Among the men killed there were Thomas Williams, an eighteen-year-old rider, in 1908, and Jenkin Jenkins, a nineteen-year-old collier, in 1914.

Geology

The Malthouse (4 ft 3 in at No. 1) and Rock Fawr (2 ft 6 in to 4 ft) seams, both rich in volatile matter; the Craigafon seam was worked with the Rock Fawr until 1908.

Workings

Two slant sections, No. 1 (1906) and No. 2 (about 1911).

Closure

Closed on 12 December 1928; the Rock Fawr and Malthouse workings of Nos. 1 and 2 were abandoned in 1928.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Brynmenyn Colliery — Neighbours near Tondu in the Rock Fawr seam; a 1928 abandonment plan of Coytrahen Park also names Brynmenin.
• Ton Phillip Colliery — The Coytrahen Park Colliery Company held Ton Phillip Colliery when it was closed in 1929.

Recorded claims

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

• No. 1 section began in 1906 and No. 2 about five years later. ¹
• It employed 32 men in 1906, 275 in 1910, 360 in 1923 and 389 in 1927. ¹
• It worked the Malthouse and Rock Fawr seams, both rich in volatile matter and favoured by South Wales gas works. ^1,2
• Work in the Craigafon seam was abandoned on 16 December 1908. ¹
• The colliery closed on 12 December 1928. ^1,2
• Thomas Williams, a rider aged 18, was killed in 1908 and Jenkin Jenkins, a collier aged 19, in 1914. ³

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Welsh Coal Mines: Brynmenyn (Coytrahen Park and Brynmenyn collieries) — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: COYTRAHEN PARK, NOS 1, 2, BRYNMENIN, Rock Fawr and Malthouse seams, abandoned 1928 — British Geological Survey
3. (secondary) NMRS coal mining accidents and deaths database: Coytrahén Park, Tondu — Northern Mine Research Society

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