Fernhill Colliery

Overview

One of the Rhondda Fawr's longest-surviving deep mines, worked from five pits at the head of the valley from 1869 until 1978, its final years spent linked underground to Tower Colliery across the Rhigos mountain.

History

Fernhill Colliery was sunk between 1869 and 1871 by Ebenizer Lewis's Fernhill Colliery Company at Blaenrhondda, at the head of the Rhondda Fawr valley near Treherbert, opening with Nos. 1 and 2 pits. Messrs Crawley, John and Oldroyd, who acquired the colliery after Lewis, added Nos. 3, 4 and 5 pits; George Watkinson & Sons took over from 1877, and by 1893 had also bought the neighbouring Blaenrhondda pit at North Dunraven, whose shafts became Fernhill's own Nos. 3 and 4. During the early 1890s the colliery became linked underground to the North Dunraven workings. Watkinson & Sons' eventual successor, Fernhill Collieries Ltd, ran Fernhill alongside Tynewydd, Blaenrhondda and Moscow Level collieries until nationalisation in 1947.

The colliery worked the Gorllwyn, Four Feet, Two Feet Nine and No.2 Rhondda seams for both steam and house coal. Employment reached 1,127 by 1920 and peaked at 1,712 in 1938, before falling to 1,253 by 1945. A planned reconstruction in the late 1950s would have deepened Shaft No.5 to 445 yards for coal winding, with Shaft No.4 handling ventilation and supplies. By 1966 Fernhill's Nos. 3 and 5 shafts were linked underground, across the Rhigos mountain, to Tower Colliery, the two collieries working as a single unit with Tower handling coal extraction and Fernhill's own workforce down to around 860. The colliery was officially closed in 1978; its surface structures and outbuildings were dismantled through the 1970s and 80s, and the site has since been fully landscaped, with little of the original mining landscape now visible.

Geology

Coal of the South Wales field at the head of the Rhondda Fawr: the Gorllwyn, Four Feet, Two Feet Nine and No. 2 Rhondda seams, worked for both steam and house coal.

Geological setting: Sedimentary Beds and Seams (well documented example)

Workings

Worked from five numbered pits at Blaenrhondda — Nos. 1 and 2 sunk 1869-71, Nos. 3, 4 and 5 added under later ownership, with Nos. 3 and 4 originating as the neighbouring Blaenrhondda pit's own shafts — drawing the Gorllwyn, Four Feet, Two Feet Nine and No.2 Rhondda seams, and linked underground first to the North Dunraven workings in the 1890s and later, from 1966, to Tower Colliery across the Rhigos mountain.

Closure

Officially closed in 1978, following the gradual dismantling of its structures through the 1970s.

What remains

All remaining mining buildings have been demolished and the site fully landscaped; little of the original mining landscape survives.

Related mines

• Tower Colliery — Fernhill's shafts were linked underground to Tower Colliery from 1966, the two collieries working as a single unit.

Disasters & major incidents

• Fernhill Colliery cage accident, 1892
  21 June 1892 · Winding / Shaft Accident · 2 fatalities
  Two young colliers were thrown from the cage in Fernhill's No. 2 pit at the head of the Rhondda on 21 June 1892 when an unravelled guide rope let the passing cages collide.

Recorded claims

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

• Fernhill Colliery was sunk between 1869 and 1871 by Ebenizer Lewis's Fernhill Colliery Company, opening with Nos. 1 and 2 pits; his successors, Messrs Crawley, John and Oldroyd, added Nos. 3, 4 and 5 pits, before George Watkinson & Sons took over from 1877. ^1,2
• By 1893 Watkinson & Sons had bought the neighbouring Blaenrhondda pit at North Dunraven, whose shafts became Fernhill's own Nos. 3 and 4; the two collieries became linked underground during the early 1890s. ²
• Employment reached 1,127 by 1920 and peaked at 1,712 in 1938, falling to 1,253 by 1945 and to around 860 by 1966. ^1,2
• By 1966 Fernhill's Nos. 3 and 5 shafts were linked underground, across the Rhigos mountain, to Tower Colliery, with the two collieries operating as a single unit and Tower handling coal extraction. ²
• The colliery was officially closed in 1978; its structures were dismantled through the 1970s and 80s and the site has since been fully landscaped. ¹

Sources

1. (secondary) Fernhill Colliery (Unloved Heritage) — DigVentures
2. (secondary) Fernhill Colliery — welshcoalmines.co.uk

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