Emlyn Colliery

Location	Penygroes, at the head of the Gwendraeth Fawr, Carmarthenshire — 51.8100, -4.0500 (approximate)
Commodity	Anthracite
Type	Coal
Worked	1882–March 1939
Maximum depth	A drift mine worked by slants; no shaft depth applies.
Operators	Emlyn Anthracite Colliery Co. Ltd (1904–1939)

Overview

An anthracite colliery of two sets of drifts at Penygroes, the first developed from 1882 and the second started in 1924. It worked the Big Vein, Green, Stanllyd, Pumpquart and Trichwart seams, and was separated underground from the Caerbryn mine by the Hendre fault. Nearly 450 men worked here by 1896 and 760 by 1923. It had its own siding to the Great Western’s Mountain branch from 1890 and a washery, and closed in March 1939, most of its men going to Cross Hands.

History

The first development on the ground was a slant driven about 1883 known as Glanlash, abandoned in 1892. The Emlyn colliery proper consisted of two sets of drifts, the first developed in 1882 by the Emlyn Colliery Co. Ltd, registered on 7 July 1893. Its own siding connected it to the Great Western Railway’s Mountain branch from Tirydail to Cross Hands under a siding agreement of 3 March 1890 with John Aeron Thomas, trading as the Carmarthenshire Coal Co. By 1896 the mine employed nearly 450 men, rising to 700 by 1913. It passed to the Emlyn Anthracite Colliery Co. Ltd, registered 28 April 1904, which employed 602 men here in 1918; a list of 1923 gives 760 men working the Stanllyd, Triquart, Upper and Lower Pumpquart and Lower Triquart. The No. 2 slants were started in 1924 and the second set of drifts came into production in 1926, the year the mine also had a lodge of the South Wales Miners’ Federation. In 1934 a nine-week strike over the minimum wage was settled in the men’s favour.

Geology

The anthracite district at the head of the Gwendraeth Fawr. Emlyn worked the Big Vein, Green, Stanllyd, Pumpquart and Trichwart seams, and was separated underground from the Caerbryn mine by the Hendre fault.

Workings

Two sets of drifts rather than shafts, the first from 1882 and the No. 2 slants from 1924, in production from 1926. The mine had a washery and was connected to the Mynydd Mawr railway at Cross Hands by tramway, and to the Great Western’s Mountain branch by its own siding from 1890.

Closure

The mine closed in March 1939, most of the men going to the nearby Cross Hands colliery.

What remains

No description of the present-day site has been established from the sources read.

No surviving structure has been identified.

Related mines

Cross Hands Colliery — Emlyn’s men came here: when Emlyn Colliery at Penygroes closed in March 1939, most of its workforce went to Cross Hands, a few miles away in the same anthracite district.

Nearby mines

Cross Hands Colliery — 2.8 km W
Wernos Colliery — 3.8 km SE
Ammanford Colliery — 4.1 km SE
Betws Colliery — 4.6 km E
Gwendraeth Colliery — 8.9 km W

Straight-line distance, within 15 km. Show on the map.

Recorded claims

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

The Emlyn colliery consisted of two sets of drifts; the first was developed in 1882 by the Emlyn Colliery Co. Ltd. An earlier slant on the ground, driven about 1883 and known as Glanlash, was abandoned in 1892. The No. 2 slants were started in 1924 and the second set came into production in 1926. ¹
Situated close to the head of the Gwendraeth Fawr at Penygroes, the mine was separated from the Caerbryn mine underground by the Hendre fault. ¹
Emlyn worked the Big Vein, Green, Stanllyd, Pumpquart and Trichwart seams. A list of 1923 records production from the Stanllyd, Triquart, Upper and Lower Pumpquart and Lower Triquart. ¹
By 1896 the mine employed nearly 450 men, rising to 700 by 1913; the Emlyn Anthracite Colliery Co. employed 602 here in 1918, and a list of 1923 gives 760. ¹
In 1926 the mine had a lodge of the South Wales Miners’ Federation, and in 1934 a nine-week strike over the minimum wage was settled in favour of the men. ¹
The mine closed in March 1939, most of the men going to the nearby Cross Hands colliery. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Emlyn Colliery — Welsh Coal Mines (reference)

The colliery record: the Glanlash slant, the two sets of drifts, the seams worked, the company registrations, the workforce by decade and the 1934 strike.

View source

Sources

(secondary) Emlyn Colliery — Welsh Coal Mines
(secondary) History of Coal Mining in the Amman Valley, Carmarthenshire — GENUKI

Record created: 8 September 2026 · Last researched: 8 September 2026