Emily Colliery

Overview

A small Birchgrove level of about 1847, named after its founder's wife, which worked the Tir Edmund seam and raised bunker coal until its owner's bankruptcy in 1895.

History

Emily Colliery was a small mine at Birchgrove, Llansamlet, opened as a level about 1847 by C. H. Smith, who named it after his wife; some sources give 1839. A sale notice of 1877 has it working the Ty'r Edmond four-foot seam and raising about 100 tons a day, and it was connected to the nearby Midland Railway by a self-acting incline.

Abraham Thomas of Llansamlet and John Daniel Thomas of Neath bought it in 1877, trading as the Emily Colliery Company; John Thomas left the partnership in 1882. In May 1886 Abraham Thomas redeveloped the colliery, sinking a shaft to work a new two-foot seam. By 1891 the shaft, 90 feet deep, served as a furnace-ventilated upcast and the mine was worked through the Emily Drift, with naked lights, and only 49 were employed at Emily and the nearby Heolddu Colliery together.

Emily produced bunker coal for the Swansea steam coal market until Abraham Thomas went bankrupt in May 1895, when it probably stopped working.

Geology

South Wales Coal Measures of the lower Swansea Valley: the Ty'r Edmond (Tir Edmund) four-foot seam, and from 1886 a two-foot seam.

Workings

A level, later the Emily Drift, with a shaft sunk in 1886 that served as a furnace upcast 5 ft 6 in by 4 ft 6 in.

Closure

Production probably ended with the bankruptcy of Abraham Thomas in May 1895.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

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 colliery opened in 1839. (disputed) ¹
• Production probably ended with Abraham Thomas's bankruptcy in May 1895. (uncertain) ¹

Recorded claims

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

• The level was opened about 1847 by C. H. Smith, who named it after his wife. ¹
• The colliery opened in 1839. (disputed) ¹
• The colliery worked the Tir Edmund (Ty'r Edmond) seam. ^1,2,3
• In 1877 it raised about 100 tons a day. ¹
• The shaft sunk in 1886 was 90 feet deep and served as an upcast in 1891. ¹
• Production probably ended with Abraham Thomas's bankruptcy in May 1895. (uncertain) ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Welsh Coal Mines: Birchgrove colliery, Sisters pit, Brothers pits — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: EMILY / HEOLDDU, Tir Edmund seam — British Geological Survey
3. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: EMILY / BRITHDIR WEST & EMILY LEVELS, Tyr Edmund seam — British Geological Survey

Record created: 10 October 2026 · Last researched: 10 October 2026