Cwmneol Colliery

Overview

Morris's pit at Cwmaman, near Aberdare, sunk in 1848 as the first pit in the Cwmaman area and bought by Powell Duffryn in 1866. In 1855 eight men died when their cage overshot the headgear and fell 240 yards, and in 1930 three more were killed when a cage rope broke; it closed in 1948.

History

Cwmneol Colliery, known locally as Morris's pit, was sunk in 1848 by Martin Morrison and John and Charles Carr between Aberaman and Fforchaman collieries near Cwmaman, the first pit in the Cwmaman area; a second, upcast shaft, the North or 'Lanky' pit, followed by 1850. The accounts differ on the seam first reached: the Seven Feet at 359 yards by one, the Four Feet by another. Ventilation was by furnace and winding by water balance until 1855. In November 1855 eight men died when their cage was overwound into the headgear and fell to the pit bottom (see Disasters, below). Owned by Carr and Morrison in 1858, D. Prothero and Company in 1860 and the United Merthyr Collieries Company in 1865, Cwmneol was bought in 1866 by Sir George Elliot for the new Powell Duffryn Steam Coal Company. Its shafts were sunk to over 1,040 feet; it stood idle from 1893 to 1898 while they were deepened and the plant renewed, then worked the Nine Feet, Red and Bute seams, the Seven Feet proving split and unworkable, employing up to 850 men around 1919. Three men were killed on 17 August 1930 when a cage rope broke and the cage fell on them at the pit bottom. Under the National Coal Board from 1947, Cwmneol was closed on 31 January 1948 when its coal was exhausted.

Geology

Steam coal seams of the South Wales coalfield: first the Seven Feet or Four Feet, later the Nine Feet, Red and Bute, and by the 1940s the Two Feet Nine, Yard and Four Feet; the Seven Feet proved split by thick stone bands and unworkable.

Geological setting: Sedimentary Beds and Seams (well documented example)

Workings

Two shafts: the South pit, and the North or 'Lanky' upcast pit added by 1850. Wound by water balance until 1855; the shafts were later deepened to 1,041 and 1,078 feet, with a Fraser and Chalmers compound winding engine, compressed-air and fan engines and electric underground haulages by 1914.

Closure

Closed by the National Coal Board on 31 January 1948 because its coal reserves were exhausted. It had also stood idle from 1893 to 1898 while the shafts were deepened, and from June 1928 to February 1929 in the trade depression.

Related mines

• Fforchneol Colliery — Neighbouring Cwmaman pits; the 1891 abandonment plan is catalogued as 'Fforchneol, Cwmneol or Morris's'.
• Tylecoch Colliery — Both were sunk by the same partnership, Carr, Morrison and Company: Cwmneol in 1848 and Tylecoch in 1854.

Disasters & major incidents

• Cwmneol Colliery overwind, 1855
  28 November 1855 · Winding / Shaft Accident · 8 fatalities
  On 28 November 1855 the cage carrying eight men up Cwmneol Colliery's shaft at Cwmaman overshot the bank, crashed into the headgear and broke the rope, and the cage and its occupants fell 240 yards to the pit bottom. The young engine driver was tried for manslaughter and acquitted.
• Cwmneol Colliery explosion, 1866
  13 February 1866 · Explosion · 2 fatalities

  An explosion of firedamp in No. 2 heading of the Four Feet seam, No. 1 pit, Cwmneol Colliery, Cwmaman, in February 1866 killed two timbermen, David Richards and Henry Hughes, who were badly burned on the face, hands and body.

  Both men were severely burned and died on the spot or shortly afterwards. The colliery belonged at the time to the United Merthyr Collieries Company.

• Cwmneol Colliery shaft accident, 1883
  March 1883 · Winding / Shaft Accident · 2 fatalities
  In March 1883 two London contractors, Charles Eely and James Sancto, were coating the steam pipes in the upcast shaft of the Powell Duffryn Company's Cwmneol pit at Cwmaman when the crab lowering their bucket ran wild. They fell some 150 yards into five or six feet of water at the bottom and were killed; the man working the windlass had his arm broken.
• Cwmneol Colliery electrocution, 1906
  18 July 1906 · Machinery · 2 fatalities

  A colliery mechanic and his son-in-law were electrocuted at Cwmneol Colliery on 18 July 1906 when the old winder's flywheel they were hoisting swung into live wires.

  About a year after the steam winder at Cwmneol Colliery, Cwmaman, had been replaced by an electric one, the mechanic Daniel Williams and his son-in-law James Hunter, 32, were taking up the old machinery in the engine house. On 18 July 1906, as they hoisted the flywheel with pulley blocks and chains, it jerked and touched the electric wires running through the engine room. The current passed through both men and killed them almost at once; artificial respiration was tried without success.

• Cwmneol Colliery lift accident, 1930
  17 August 1930 · Winding / Shaft Accident · 3 fatalities
  On 17 August 1930 three hitchers at Cwmneol Colliery, Cwmaman, were crushed when the lift they were loading with drams fell. Two were killed outright and the third, Henry Harry, died in Aberdare General Hospital an hour after he was admitted.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• The Cwmneol South pit opened to the Seven Feet seam at 359 yards in 1848, sunk by Messrs Carr and Morrison, with the North or 'Lanky' upcast pit added by 1850. (disputed) ¹
• Cwmneol was sunk to the Four Feet seam by Martin Morrison and John and Charles Carr in 1848, the first pit in the Cwmaman area, and used water-balance winding until 1855. (disputed) ²
• In 1865 the Aman Aberdare Coal Co. Ltd became the owners, and by 1868 the colliery was in the hands of Powell Duffryn; production ceased in 1893 to deepen the shafts and restarted in 1898. (disputed) ¹

Recorded claims

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

• The Cwmneol South pit opened to the Seven Feet seam at 359 yards in 1848, sunk by Messrs Carr and Morrison, with the North or 'Lanky' upcast pit added by 1850. (disputed) ¹
• Cwmneol was sunk to the Four Feet seam by Martin Morrison and John and Charles Carr in 1848, the first pit in the Cwmaman area, and used water-balance winding until 1855. (disputed) ²
• Cwmneol was owned by Carr and Morrison in 1858, D. Prothero and Company in 1860 and the United Merthyr Collieries Company in 1865, and was sold in 1866 to Sir George Elliot, founder of the Powell Duffryn Steam Coal Company. ²
• In 1865 the Aman Aberdare Coal Co. Ltd became the owners, and by 1868 the colliery was in the hands of Powell Duffryn; production ceased in 1893 to deepen the shafts and restarted in 1898. (disputed) ¹
• Cwmneol employed 850 men in 1919; three men were killed on 17 August 1930 when a cage rope broke; it passed to the NCB in 1947 and closed on 31 January 1948 through exhaustion of reserves. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Cwmneol Colliery — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (secondary) Cwmneol Colliery — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (primary) Cwmneol / Fforchneol (Mining Remediation Authority abandonment plan, via BGS catalogue item 21841319) — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority

Record created: 19 September 2026 · Last researched: 19 September 2026