Energlyn Colliery

Overview

Two collieries of the same name on the edge of Caerphilly. The first, Eneu'r Glyn, was started by Thomas Thomas in 1858 and raised its first coal in November 1859 from the house-coal seam known locally as the Bedwas; its manager, Henry Lewis, won the Albert Medal for the Tynewydd rescue of 1877. That pit closed in 1889 and was abandoned in 1892. Thomas Taylor of Pontypridd then sank a new Energlyn -- known locally as New Beddau after the farm it stood on -- in 1905, where five masons narrowly escaped drowning when their staging collapsed into the flooded sump. It employed 313 men at its peak in 1912 and closed on 5 February 1913.

History

The first Energlyn colliery, Eneu'r Glyn, was started in 1858 by Thomas Thomas and raised coal from November 1859, working the house-coal seam known locally as the Bedwas seam. Its manager was Henry Lewis, one of the managing agents who went into the flooded workings at Tynewydd in April 1877 to reach the men trapped there; he was awarded the Albert Medal, second class, along with a silver wine flagon from the Mansion House committee and a cup from the Daily Telegraph fund, and the South Wales Daily News of 6 August 1877 lists him among the honoured rescuers as 'Mr Henry Lewis, of Energlyn'. The Energlyn Coal Company owned the colliery by 1880 and closed it in 1889, selling it to the Rhos Llantwit Coal Company, which used it for pumping until it was abandoned in 1892; Thomas Thomas then worked the pillars until 1897. In 1905 Thomas Taylor of Pontypridd sank a second colliery of the name, locally New Energlyn or New Beddau after Beddau farm. During the sinking five masons working in the shaft narrowly escaped with their lives when the staging they stood on collapsed and dropped them into the water filling the sump below. By 1908 the new pit employed 198 men, 25 of them on the surface, and at its peak in 1912 there were 313. Its working life was short: it closed on 5 February 1913, though the shafts were not capped until the 1950s. Edward VII visited the colliery in 1907.

Geology

House coal from the seam known locally as the Bedwas seam at the first colliery, in the southern part of the South Wales coalfield where the measures run out towards the Caerphilly basin.

Geological setting: Sedimentary Beds and Seams (historical documentary reference)

Workings

Two separate sites: the old Energlyn colliery of 1858 north of Caerphilly, later used for pumping and then for working its own pillars, and the new colliery of 1905 to the south at Beddau farm, whose shafts were left standing until they were capped in the 1950s.

Closure

The first colliery was closed by the Energlyn Coal Company in 1889, kept for pumping by the Rhos Llantwit Coal Company until 1892 and then abandoned, after which Thomas Thomas worked its pillars until 1897. The new colliery of 1905 closed on 5 February 1913 after a working life of eight years; its shafts stayed open until the 1950s.

What remains

Unknown.

Unknown; the shafts of the 1905 colliery were capped in the 1950s.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Tynewydd Colliery, Porth — Energlyn's manager, Henry Lewis, was one of the managing agents who went into Tynewydd's flooded workings in the rescue of 1877 and was decorated for it.

Nearby mines

• Llanbradach Quarry — 2.6 km N
• Nantgarw Colliery — 3.2 km SW, Rhondda Cynon Taf
• Windsor Colliery — 3.7 km NW
• Bedwas Navigation Colliery — 4.2 km NE
• Little Garth Mine — 5.3 km SW, Cardiff

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

People

• Henry Lewis · manager, from 1877 — Manager of Energlyn colliery, awarded the Albert Medal second class for the Tynewydd rescue of 1877.
• Thomas Taylor · owner, 1905–1913 — Of Pontypridd; sank the new Energlyn (New Beddau) colliery in 1905.
• Thomas Thomas · owner, 1858–1897 — Started the first Energlyn colliery in 1858 and later worked its pillars until 1897.

Recorded claims

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

• The first Energlyn colliery was started in 1858 by Thomas Thomas and raised its first coal in November 1859, working the house-coal seam known locally as the Bedwas seam. ¹
• Henry Lewis, manager of Energlyn, was awarded the Albert Medal second class for his part in the Tynewydd colliery rescue of 1877; the South Wales Daily News of 6 August 1877 names him among the managing agents honoured. ^1,2
• The Energlyn Coal Company closed the first colliery in 1889 and sold it to the Rhos Llantwit Coal Company, which pumped from it until it was abandoned in 1892; Thomas Thomas then worked the pillars until 1897. ¹
• During the sinking of the new colliery in 1905, five masons working in the shaft narrowly escaped with their lives when their staging collapsed and dropped them into the water filling the sump. ¹
• The new colliery employed 198 men by 1908 and 313 at its peak in 1912, and closed on 5 February 1913, its shafts remaining uncapped until the 1950s. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Energlyn — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (primary) The Medals of the Order of St John of Jerusalem (South Wales Daily News, 6 August 1877) — Welsh Newspapers Online, National Library of Wales

Record created: 20 September 2026 · Last researched: 20 September 2026