Fochriw Colliery

Overview

A Dowlais Iron Company colliery in the upper Rhymney Valley, sunk from 1853 to supply coal to the company's blast furnaces at Dowlais, eventually growing to three shafts and nearly 2,000 workers before its sudden closure in 1924 — a working life marked by at least two serious explosions and two fatal winding-shaft accidents.

History

Coal had already been worked at Fochriw by drift mining on the Ras Las seam from 1823, but the colliery's industrial-scale history began when the Dowlais Iron Company sank a shaft there in 1853 to a depth of 390 yards, reaching the Four Feet seam, at a cost of £83,000, specifically to supply coal to its own blast furnaces at Dowlais. Parliamentary safety legislation passed in 1862, requiring separate ventilation shafts, prompted the company to develop the colliery further from 1857: a new No. 1 (North, upcast) pit reached 443 yards by 1863, and a No. 2 (South, downcast) pit reached 433 yards by 1866, the two shafts positioned 44 yards apart. The colliery went on to work several seams — the Rhas Las, Upper Four Feet, Big Veins, Two Feet Nine, Red Vein and Lower Six Feet among them — producing a low-volatile coking steam coal. Employment grew from around 1,422 in 1896 to a peak of over 2,000 by the early 1920s. Ownership passed from the Dowlais Iron Company to Guest and Company in 1901 and then to the newly formed Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds Limited the following year. The colliery's working life was marked by repeated serious accidents: an explosion on 10 May 1865 burned fourteen men, a number of whom later died of their injuries; two separate winding-shaft accidents killed two men roughly six weeks before, and then five men on 8 January 1870 (see Disasters, below, for the latter); and an explosion on 4 June 1902 killed eight miners (see Disasters, below). Despite an expansion announced as recently as January 1923, Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds closed both Fochriw pits and the neighbouring South Tunnel Pits suddenly on 3 May 1924, citing purely economic reasons and putting some 2,300 men out of work across the group; an appeal by miners' representatives to the Ministry of Mines failed to reverse the decision.

Workings

Three shafts in total: the original 1853 pit to 390 yards, a No. 1 (North, upcast) pit to 443 yards from 1863, and a No. 2 (South, downcast) pit to 433 yards from 1866, the two later shafts 44 yards apart and elliptical in section (22 feet by 12 feet).

Closure

Closed suddenly on 3 May 1924 for purely economic reasons, alongside the neighbouring South Tunnel Pits, putting around 2,300 Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds employees out of work despite an expansion having been announced as recently as January 1923.

Disasters & major incidents

• Fochriw Colliery Winding Accident, 1870
  8 January 1870 · Winding / Shaft Accident · 5 fatalities
  The winding rope detached from its drum at Fochriw Colliery's No. 1 shaft, sending the cages and everyone in them plunging to the bottom and killing five men — the second such accident at the colliery within two months.
• Fochriw Colliery Explosion, 1902
  4 June 1902 · Explosion · 8 fatalities
  A fall of roof released a body of firedamp at Fochriw Colliery, which was ignited by a naked light, killing eight miners.

Recorded claims

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

• The Dowlais Iron Company sank the colliery's original shaft in 1853 to 390 yards at a cost of £83,000, and developed further shafts to 443 and 433 yards by 1863 and 1866 respectively, following 1862 safety legislation requiring separate ventilation shafts. ¹
• Employment grew from around 1,422 in 1896 to over 2,000 by the early 1920s. ^1,2
• An explosion on 10 May 1865 burned fourteen men, a number of whom later died of their injuries; the exact death toll is not established in the sources checked. (uncertain) ²
• A winding-shaft accident roughly six weeks before the better-documented 8 January 1870 accident killed two men. ²
• Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds closed both Fochriw pits and the neighbouring South Tunnel Pits suddenly on 3 May 1924 for economic reasons, putting around 2,300 men out of work despite an expansion having been announced in January 1923. ²

Photographs & further reading

Images

Sources

1. (primary) Fochriw Colliery 1853-1924 — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Fochrhiw colliery — welshcoalmines.co.uk

Record created: 2 September 2026 · Last researched: 2 September 2026