Dare Colliery

Overview

David Davies and Company's steam-coal colliery at Cwmparc in the Rhondda Fawr, sunk in 1865 or 1870, which employed over a thousand men for much of its life and was merged with its neighbour Parc as the Park and Dare in 1955.

History

Dare Colliery stood in Cwmparc, a side valley of the Rhondda Fawr above Treorchy. It was sunk by David Davies and Company, in 1865 by one account and in 1870 by another; the company sank the neighbouring Park Colliery as well, and both pits later passed to the Ocean Coal Company. The earliest houses of Cwmparc seem to have grown up north-east of the Dare, around what became Baglan Street and Lower Terrace. A dynamo was installed in 1880 to light the surface of the colliery.

Dare was a large steam-coal pit: it employed 1,072 men in 1896 and 1,005 in 1918, and in 1923 1,121 men worked the Six Feet, Three Feet Ten, No. 5 (Brunt), Red and Little (No. 3) seams. In October 1935 its men held a stay-in strike in protest against 'scab unionism'. In 1935 the colliery passed with Parc to Powell Duffryn Associated Collieries; it employed 710 men in 1938 and 1,014 in 1945. In 1947 its two shafts, a downcast 16 by 12 feet and an upcast 12 feet across, both went down 658 feet to the Three Feet Ten seam.

After nationalisation the National Coal Board joined Dare to Parc. In October 1950 it approved £9,940 for a 330-yard drivage so that Dare's coal could be raised at Park No. 2 Pit, and the Dare Pit became Park No. 3. The formal merger came in 1955, and the combined Park and Dare was for a time the largest colliery in the South Wales Coalfield. Coal winding stopped in February 1966. The site was landscaped, and a community hall and housing now stand where the colliery was.

Geology

South Wales Coalfield: the Six Feet, Three Feet Ten, No. 5 (Brunt), Red and Little (No. 3) seams.

Workings

Two shafts, a 16 by 12 foot elliptical downcast and a 12-foot upcast, both 658 feet deep to the Three Feet Ten seam; from the early 1950s its coal was raised through Park No. 2 Pit.

Closure

Merged with Parc as the Park and Dare in 1955; winding at the combined colliery stopped on 4 February 1966.

What remains

Landscaped; the colliery buildings are gone.

Redevelopment

A community hall and housing stand on the colliery site.

Related mines

• Parc Colliery — Neighbouring pits of David Davies and Company at Cwmparc, merged as the Park and Dare in 1955.

What's uncertain

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

• Dare Colliery was sunk in 1865 by David Davies and Company. (disputed) ¹
• Dare Colliery was sunk in 1870 by D. Davies and Co. (disputed) ²

Recorded claims

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

• Dare Colliery was sunk in 1865 by David Davies and Company. (disputed) ¹
• Dare Colliery was sunk in 1870 by D. Davies and Co. (disputed) ²
• 1,072 men were employed in 1896, 1,005 in 1918 and 1,121 in 1923. ²
• In 1923 the colliery worked the Six Feet, Three Feet Ten, No. 5 (Brunt), Red and Little (No. 3) seams. ²
• In 1947 the downcast and upcast shafts were both 658 feet deep to the Three Feet Ten seam. ²
• Dare's coal was diverted to Park No. 2 Pit, the Dare Pit became Park No. 3, and the two collieries formally merged in 1955. ^2,3
• The site was landscaped; a community hall and housing now stand on it. ¹
• The colliery was still working in 1925. ⁴

Sources

1. (secondary) Cwmparc - Historic Landscape Character Area — Heneb (Welsh archaeological trusts)
2. (secondary) Dare Colliery, Cwmparc — Welsh Coal Mines
3. (secondary) Park Colliery, Cwmparc — Northern Mine Research Society
4. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Albert Yeoman (injured), Dare, Cwmparc, 1925 — Northern Mine Research Society

Record created: 17 October 2026 · Last researched: 17 October 2026