Ferndale Collieries

Overview

The Rhondda Fach's first deep colliery, founded by David Davis and struck within two years by two of the worst explosion disasters in Welsh mining history — 178 dead in 1867 and 53 more in 1869 — which together gave the growing village around it its name.

History

David Davis began sinking Ferndale's No.1 pit in the Rhondda Fach, five miles beyond Porth, from 1857, striking the Four-Feet seam in June 1862; the growing settlement around the colliery took its name directly from the pit. After Davis's death in 1866 his sons Lewis and David took over, and the business was incorporated as David Davis and Sons Ltd in 1890. The complex grew to seven distinct seams and eight numbered pits, No.8 (Cynllwyn Du) reaching 606 yards, the deepest shaft anywhere in the Rhondda Valley.

The colliery was struck by disaster twice within two years of full operation: an explosion on 8 November 1867 killed 178 men and boys, and a second explosion on 10 June 1869 killed a further 53 (see Disasters, below) — together among the worst mining disasters in Welsh history. Production continued and expanded after both disasters: by 1914 the integrated Ferndale complex employed 5,654 men, raising 1.75 million tons of coal a year. David Davis and Sons merged into Powell Duffryn in 1935, by which point Ferndale employed 4,115 men producing a million tons annually, and the collieries passed to the National Coal Board on the 1947 nationalisation of the industry. The last of Ferndale's pits closed between 1959 and 1960, after just over a century of continuous coal working.

Geology

Ferndale's complex of numbered pits worked seven distinct seams — the Two Feet Nine, Four Feet, Five Feet, Bute, Gellideg, Red and Yard — with ironstone raised as a secondary product; No.8 pit, Cynllwyn Du, reached 606 yards, the deepest shaft in the Rhondda Valley.

Workings

The colliery grew from its original 1857 No.1 pit into a group of eight numbered shafts worked as a single integrated complex; both of Ferndale's major explosions originated from gas accumulations in individual districts of the mine that then spread through connected workings, exposing serious weaknesses in ventilation and gas-monitoring practice that were common across the South Wales coalfield in this period.

Closure

Ferndale's last pits closed between 1959 and 1960, ending just over a century of coal working that had begun with David Davis's original 1857 sinking.

What remains

Unknown.

Related mines

• Blaengwawr Colliery — Both were opened by David Davis: Blaengwawr in 1843 made his name and his fortune, and he used it to open out the Rhondda Fach at Ferndale in the 1860s.
• Bodringallt Colliery — Bought by David Davis and Sons in 1889 and worked as Ferndale No. 3, and after production ceased in 1936 it pumped and ventilated for Ferndale Nos. 1 and 5 until 1959.
• Tylorstown Colliery — David Davis and Sons, owners of Ferndale, bought the Tylorstown pits in 1892–94, linked them underground with Ferndale's workings (the Five Feet seam at No.6 connected to Ferndale No.5) and numbered them Ferndale Nos. 6–9.

Disasters & major incidents

• Ferndale Colliery explosion, 1867
  8 November 1867 · Explosion · 178 fatalities
  Two consecutive explosions at Ferndale Colliery's No.1 pit killed 178 men and boys on 8 November 1867, after a gas accumulation the fireman had already warned the manager about ignited from a naked light — one of the worst disasters in Welsh mining history.
• Ferndale Colliery explosion, 1869
  10 June 1869 · Explosion · 53 fatalities
  A second major explosion at Ferndale Colliery, in the fiery Four Foot Seam, killed 53 men and boys on 10 June 1869, less than two years after the pit's 1867 disaster.
• Ferndale Colliery roof fall, 1891
  29 October 1891 · Collapse / Roof Fall · 2 fatalities
  Two men clearing an earlier fall at Ferndale's No. 1 pit, in the Rhondda Fach, were killed by a fresh fall of roof on 29 October 1891.
• Tylorstown Colliery explosion, 1896
  28 January 1896 · Explosion · 57 fatalities
  An explosion swept Tylorstown's Nos. 6, 7 and 8 pits as the day shift descended on 28 January 1896, killing 57 men and boys, after a delayed shot fired into a gas-charged road ignited firedamp and coal dust through the dry workings.
• Ferndale No. 5 Pit cage accident, 1910
  22 September 1910 · Winding / Shaft Accident · 2 fatalities
  On 22 September 1910 a cage lowering twelve men and boys at D. Davis and Sons' Ferndale collieries crashed onto the sump boards near the bottom of the shaft. The gates burst open and the men were thrown out; all twelve were hurt, a youth, Thomas Pope, was killed, and Charles Mason died after his leg was amputated.

Recorded claims

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

• David Davis began sinking Ferndale's No.1 pit from 1857, striking the Four-Feet seam in June 1862; after his death in 1866 his sons Lewis and David took over, incorporating the business as David Davis and Sons Ltd in 1890. ¹
• The complex worked seven distinct seams (Two Feet Nine, Four Feet, Five Feet, Bute, Gellideg, Red and Yard) plus ironstone as a secondary product; No.8 pit, Cynllwyn Du, reached 606 yards, the deepest shaft in the Rhondda Valley. ¹
• By 1914 the integrated Ferndale complex employed 5,654 men, raising 1.75 million tons of coal a year; by the time of the 1935 Powell Duffryn merger it employed 4,115 men producing a million tons annually. ¹
• David Davis and Sons merged into Powell Duffryn in 1935, passing to the National Coal Board on the 1947 nationalisation of the coal industry; Ferndale's last pits closed between 1959 and 1960. ^1,2

Sources

1. (secondary) Ferndale Colliery — Wikipedia
2. (secondary) Ferndale Colliery — welshcoalmines.co.uk

Record created: 27 August 2026 · Last researched: 27 August 2026