Cwmdare Colliery

Overview

A mid-Victorian colliery at Cwmdare, Aberdare, working by 1858 and sold in 1870 with 222 men; it closed in 1875, reopened in 1881 and was gone by 1898.

History

Cwmdare Colliery, near Aberdare in the Cynon valley, was working by 1858 under David Williams. Rhys, Martin and Company had it in 1860 and Rhys and Company in 1865; in 1870, when it employed 222 men, its owners Rhys and Richards put it up for sale. It closed in the trade slump of 1875. Its early deaths included door boys of ten and thirteen run over by trams in the 1860s and an eight-year-old labourer smothered by small coal on the surface in 1865.

By 1879 the pit was little worked. Water from the Nine Feet was drained through a pipe laid in a hard heading from the Bute Vein, and on 18 October 1879 three men were suffocated by gas released when the choked pipe was opened (see Disasters, below).

The Powell Duffryn Steam Coal Company is listed as its owner in 1878, with R. Snape as manager, and it reopened in 1881. It raised 25,580 tons in 1889, abandoned the Seven Feet seam in July 1891, and had disappeared from the lists by 1898.

Geology

South Wales coalfield, Cynon valley: the Nine Feet, Bute and Seven Feet seams.

Workings

A pit with a drainage heading from the Bute Vein to the Nine Feet, piped to carry off water.

Closure

Closed in the 1875 slump and reopened in 1881; abandoned the Seven Feet in July 1891 and was gone from the lists by 1898.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Disasters & major incidents

• Cwmdare Colliery gas accident, 1879
  18 October 1879 · Gas / Asphyxiation · 3 fatalities
  Three men were suffocated at Cwmdare Colliery, Aberdare, on the night of 18 October 1879 when gas burst from a choked drainage pipe they had opened; the overman with them escaped.

Recorded claims

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

• Working in 1858 under David Williams; Rhys, Martin and Company owned it in 1860. ¹
• Employed 222 men in 1870, when Rhys and Richards put it up for sale. ¹
• Closed in the trade slump of 1875 and reopened in 1881. ¹
• Water from the Nine Feet was drained through a pipe driven through a heading from the Bute Vein. ²
• Produced 25,580 tons in 1889 and abandoned the Seven Feet seam in July 1891. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Cwmdare Colliery — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Welsh coal mine fatalities, 1879 — Welsh Coal Mines
3. (primary) BGS mine plans: Park / Cwmdare / Gadlys / Pant-y-Flash / Aberdare Level — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority

Record created: 7 October 2026 · Last researched: 7 October 2026