Crown Colliery

Overview

A Pwll colliery near Burry Port, begun as a slant in 1877 by Evan Davies and Company, whose new pits of 1908-12 cost several sinkers' lives; it was worked with New Lodge until the early 1930s.

History

Crown Colliery was at Pwll, near Burry Port, on the coast east of the town. Evan Davies and Company of Llanelli, trading as the Crown Colliery Company, drove its Old Slant in 1877 to work the mineral take east of Burry Port; the company did not join the Monmouthshire and South Wales Coal Owners' Association.

New pits were begun in 1908 and 1909, when the company advertised in the Colliery Guardian for tenders to sink two pits of about 150 yards by 12 feet across; seven men were then employed underground and eleven at the surface. The sinking was costly in lives. A sinker fell from the platform in 1910; on 31 July 1911 a sinking pump suspended in the shaft fell on the men below and killed four; and in February 1912 a stone from beneath a walling curb killed another.

By 1918 the colliery employed 60 underground and 28 at the surface under the manager J. Bonnell, and 80 in 1919. Evan Davies and Company worked it through the 1920s for manufacturing coal, with 300 men in 1927 counted together with New Lodge. It was still listed in 1932 but not in 1935.

Geology

Unknown.

Workings

The Old Slant of 1877 and two new pits sunk from 1908-09, specified at about 150 yards deep and 12 feet across.

Closure

Listed in 1932 but not in 1935; the date and reason for closure are unknown.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• New Lodge Colliery — Both owned by Evan Davies and Company and worked together from about 1927 (300 men in 1927; 100,000 tons with 290 men in 1930).
• New Pool Colliery — Both worked the Cwmmawr vein and their abandonment plans are catalogued together (NEW POOL AND CROWN COLLIERIES); both were owned by Evan Davies and Company.

Recorded claims

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

• The Old Slant was driven in 1877 by Evan Davies and Company, trading as the Crown Colliery Company. ¹
• Four sinkers were killed on 31 July 1911 when a sinking pump suspended in the shaft fell on them. ^2,1,3
• A sinker was killed by a fall of sandstone from beneath a walling curb on 2 February 1912. ⁴
• The colliery was owned by the Crown Colliery Co. in 1911-12. ^3,4
• In 1918 it employed 60 underground and 28 at the surface under J. Bonnell. ¹
• It was still listed in 1932 but not in 1935. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Welsh Coal Mines: New Lodge colliery, Crown Colliery — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (secondary) Welsh mining fatalities, 1911 — Welsh Coal Mines
3. (secondary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: James Angus, Crown, Lower Pwll, 31 July 1911 — Northern Mine Research Society
4. (secondary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Morgan Bell, Crown, Lower Pwll, 2 February 1912 — Northern Mine Research Society

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