Elwyn Colliery

Overview

A small drift mine at Onllwyn in the Dulais Valley, worked from 1955 to 1993. From about 1991 it was joined underground to the nearby Graig y Fforest No.2 Colliery (Pinetrees), which then brought its coal out through Elwyn's own drift. A collier was killed by a fall of roof in 1992.

History

Elwyn Colliery was a drift mine at Onllwyn, near Seven Sisters in the Dulais Valley, worked from 1955 into the Red Vein seam, about 2 feet 9 inches thick, by hand-got methods; horses hauled the coal at first, later replaced by a conveyor, with drams then hauled to the surface up a steep drift by powered haulage. E.R. Rowlands owned it from 1955 to 1957; the Elwyn Colliery Company ran it from 1957 to 1971, when 15 men worked underground and 5 on the surface, producing 5,405 tons of coal in 1960. The Tower Anthracite Company took over in 1971, employing 19 men by 1987; a surface fire in December 1976 caused over £50,000 of damage to colliery machinery. Around 1991 Elwyn's workings were joined underground by a timbered roadway to the nearby Graig y Fforest No.2 Colliery, known as Pinetrees, on the other side of the mountain; from then on Graig y Fforest's coal was brought out through Elwyn's own drift, and the two mines were sometimes referred to together as Elwyn/Pinetrees. Ryan Mining Ltd owned Elwyn from 1989, employing around 25 to 30 men and, by October 1990, 31, when permission was sought to mine some 15,000 tons a year. On 21 July 1992 a collier, Paul Roberts, aged 32, was killed at the face by a fall of roof; he left a widow and three young sons. Elwyn closed in 1993, its men transferred to Ryan's other mine, Lyn Mine at Resolfen; Ward Brothers, the Durham-based opencast company, later sought permission to opencast the site, along with the nearby Brawds Level and Nant Hir Colliery.

Geology

Worked the Red Vein seam, about 2 feet 9 inches thick, of the South Wales Coalfield.

Workings

A drift mine; hand-got, with horse and later conveyor haulage to a powered haulage system up a steep drift to the surface. From about 1991 linked underground by a timbered roadway to Graig y Fforest No.2 Colliery (Pinetrees), whose coal was then brought out through Elwyn.

Closure

Closed in 1993; its workforce transferred to Ryan Mining's Lyn Mine at Resolfen. Ward Brothers later sought permission to opencast the site.

Related mines

• Graig y Fforest No.2 Colliery (Pinetrees) — Joined underground to Elwyn Colliery around 1991, after which its coal was brought out through Elwyn's own drift; the combined workings were reported as "Elwyn Pinetrees".
• Lyn Colliery — When Ryan Mining closed Elwyn in 1993 its workforce transferred to Lyn.

What's uncertain

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

• NMRS separately records an 'Elwyn Pinetrees' as worked by the Tower Anthracite Company and then, from 1993, by Ward Brothers -- likely the same Elwyn/Graig y Fforest connection described by Welsh Coal Mines, though NMRS's own date range for it ('1911 and 1992') is not consistent with either source's other dates and is probably a transcription error. (uncertain) ²

Recorded claims

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

• A drift mine at Onllwyn opened in 1955, worked into the Red Vein seam by hand-got methods. ^1,2
• Owned by E.R. Rowlands (1955-57), the Elwyn Colliery Company (1957-71), the Tower Anthracite Company (1971-89) and Ryan Mining Ltd (1989-93). ¹
• Produced 5,405 tons of coal in 1960 with 15 men underground and 5 on the surface; employed 19 men in 1987 and around 25-31 in its final years under Ryan Mining. ^1,2
• From about 1991 Elwyn's workings were joined underground by a timbered roadway to the nearby Graig y Fforest No.2 Colliery (Pinetrees), whose coal was thereafter brought out through Elwyn's own drift. ¹
• NMRS separately records an 'Elwyn Pinetrees' as worked by the Tower Anthracite Company and then, from 1993, by Ward Brothers -- likely the same Elwyn/Graig y Fforest connection described by Welsh Coal Mines, though NMRS's own date range for it ('1911 and 1992') is not consistent with either source's other dates and is probably a transcription error. (uncertain) ²
• Collier Paul Roberts, 32, was killed at the face by a fall of roof on 21 July 1992, leaving a widow and three young sons. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) West Glamorgan Small Mines (Welsh Coal Mines) — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (secondary) Small collieries of the Dulais Valley — Northern Mine Research Society

Record created: 14 September 2026 · Last researched: 14 September 2026