Cwmdows Colliery

Overview

A house-coal level and pit at Cwmdows, Newbridge, worked from about 1804 in the Mynyddislwyn seams, examined by the 1842 Children's Employment Commission and reopened before the First World War until the early 1930s.

History

Cwmdows Colliery, at Newbridge in the parish of Mynyddislwyn, was probably at work by 1804 or 1805, when it belonged to Mr H. Head of Dowlais. By 1842 Messrs Morrison and Powell owned it, with Evan Jenkins as agent. The Children's Employment Commission of that year found two mines, one entered by a level and the other by a shaft 113 yards deep with a 50 horsepower high-pressure engine, employing 60 adults, 12 under eighteen and 15 under thirteen; boys of six were working underground and could not read a letter. The agent said there had been only one fatal accident in two years.

The level worked the Upper and Lower Mynyddislwyn seams, about four and three feet thick and about ten feet apart, sometimes from the same roadways, with short shafts to raise coal from the lower seam. In 1876 a boy named Davies was killed by a falling stone while working alone at the Cwmdows Level. In 1877 it belonged to Captain Stroud and was working fairly, and by 1880 it was in the hands of T. Stroud of Newport. In 1881 it was reported that the old colliery might be reopened to work coal left in its upper part towards Kendon and Penmain.

The Twyn Gwyn Colliery Company later took it over but concentrated on its own nearby Twyn Gwyn colliery. Production restarted at Cwmdows around 1912, and it employed 89 men in 1918 and 96 in 1924. It closed in the early 1930s.

Geology

The Upper and Lower Mynyddislwyn seams of the South Wales Coal Measures, about four feet and three feet thick and lying about ten feet apart.

Workings

A level and, by 1842, a shaft 113 yards deep with a 50 horsepower high-pressure engine; the two seams were sometimes worked from the same roadways, with short shafts in the roadway to load coal from the lower seam.

Closure

Worked again from about 1912 and closed in the early 1930s; the abandonment plan of the Cwm Dows or Twyn Gwyn workings is dated 1929.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Recorded claims

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

• Work probably began by 1804 or 1805, when the colliery was owned by Mr H. Head of Dowlais. ¹
• In 1842 Morrison and Powell owned it; it had a level and a shaft 113 yards deep, and employed 60 adults, 12 under eighteen and 15 under thirteen. ¹
• Boys of six were working underground in 1842 and could not read a letter. ¹
• The level worked the Upper and Lower Mynyddislwyn seams, about four and three feet thick and about ten feet apart. ¹
• In August 1876 a boy named Davies was killed by a falling stone while working alone at the Cwmdows Level. ²
• In 1877 the Cwmdows Level belonged to Captain Stroud; by 1880 it was owned by T. Stroud of Newport. ^1,3
• In 1881 it was rumoured that the old Cwmdows Colliery would be reopened to work coal left in its upper part towards Kendon and Penmain. ⁴
• Production restarted around 1912; 89 men were employed in 1918 and 96 in 1924. ¹
• Closed in the early 1930s. ¹
• An abandonment plan of the Cwm Dows or Twyn Gwyn workings in the top and bottom Mynyddislwyn seams is dated 1929. ⁵

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Welsh Coal Mines: Cwmdows — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (primary) Pentwynmawr: fatal accident at the Cwmdows Level (South Wales Daily News, 8 August 1876) — Welsh Newspapers (National Library of Wales)
3. (primary) Blackwood: the Cwmdows Level, belonging to Captain Stroud (The Western Mail, 9 April 1877) — Welsh Newspapers (National Library of Wales)
4. (primary) The local coal trade: Pontllanfraith collieries (South Wales Daily News, 25 July 1881) — Welsh Newspapers (National Library of Wales)
5. (primary) BGS mine plan: Cwm Dows or Twyn Gwyn (Mynyddislwyn top and bottom seams), abandoned 1929 — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority
6. (primary) Pontllanfraith: accident at the Cwmdows level (South Wales Daily News, 13 November 1876) — Welsh Newspapers (National Library of Wales)

Record created: 9 October 2026 · Last researched: 9 October 2026