Gadlys Colliery

Overview

One of the earliest pits in the Cynon Valley, worked by the Wayne family for their Gadlys ironworks in Aberdare and later by Powell Duffryn. Its long roll of deaths includes gas explosions that killed five men in 1848 and four or five in 1871; its last level closed in 1939.

History

Gadlys Colliery grew from the small levels that fed Matthew Wayne's Gadlys ironworks in Aberdare, established in the 1820s after he left a partnership at Nant-y-glo; the Northern Mine Research Society dates the pit to about 1802, a report of 1871 to about 1827, and Welsh Coal Mines has the Old and New pits sunk by the Waynes' Gadlys Iron Company to the Five Feet seam at 140 yards and at work by 1844. In 1835 it was described as worked by a pit near the works with a drift for horses, a balance for raising coal and two eight-inch pumps, one driven by a 24-foot waterwheel and the other by a high-pressure steam engine. It was a dangerous pit: five men were killed in a gas explosion on 24 April 1848, two fell down the shaft together on 29 December 1864, an explosion on 4 October 1871 killed four or five, and another on 24 October 1872 is recorded as killing four, besides a long list of single deaths from falls, trams and gas. In 1870 it raised 32,984 tons with about a hundred men underground, working the Upper Four Feet seam from a 68-yard winding shaft ventilated by a furnace. The ironworks closed in 1875; the colliery passed to Wayne's Merthyr Steam Coal and Iron Works Company, which sank the New or Victoria pit, and by the 1880s had a 40-foot Waddle fan. The New pit employed 245 in 1896 and 368 in 1901. It was later owned by Lancaster, Speir and Company and then Powell Duffryn. The colliery abandoned its last seam, the Five Feet, in July 1902, though the Gadlys River Level worked until 25 February 1939, and the site was kept for pumping until 1971-72.

Geology

Coal and ironstone of the South Wales coalfield: the Upper Four Feet, Five Feet, Seven Feet, New Seven Feet, Bute and Graig seams.

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

Workings

Old and New (Victoria) pits, the Old pit 68 yards deep in 1871 with a horse way and a ladder shaft; furnace ventilation, later a 40-foot Waddle fan. Seams abandoned: Top Four Feet 1885, Bute 1892, New Seven Feet 1895, Graig 1898, Seven Feet 1901, Five Feet 1902; the River Level to 1939.

Closure

The pits abandoned their last seam, the Five Feet, in July 1902 (NMRS); the Gadlys River Level worked until 25 February 1939, and Welsh Coal Mines has production ceasing in 1939 with the site kept for pumping until 1971-72.

What remains

Unknown.

Unknown.

Nearby mines

• Blaengwawr Colliery — 1.0 km SE
• Ysguborwen Colliery — 1.1 km NE
• River Level Colliery, Aberdare — 1.3 km NE
• Merthyr Dare Colliery — 2.0 km W
• Nantmelyn Colliery — 2.0 km NW

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

People

• Matthew Wayne · founder — Founded the Gadlys ironworks at Aberdare in the 1820s, supplied by the colliery.
• Thomas Wayne · proprietor — via the operator record
• Thomas Wayne · owner — Son of Matthew Wayne of the Gadlys ironworks; sank the first deep pit in the area, at Abernant-y-Groes, Cwmbach, in 1837.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• Mathew Wayne established the Gadlys ironworks in the 1820s, supplied from small local levels; the Old and New pits, sunk by the Waynes' Gadlys Iron Co. to the Five Feet seam at 140 yards, were working by 1844. (disputed) ¹
• Gadlys was one of the earliest mines in the Cynon Valley, opened c.1802 to feed the Gadlys Iron Works; in 1871 it was reported to have opened about 1827, with one 68-yard winding shaft working the Upper Four Feet seam and 32,984 tons raised in 1870. (disputed) ²
• The explosion of 4 October 1871 killed four: David Davies (27), Thomas Hamlett (11), David Jones (28) and David Morse (18). (disputed) ²

Recorded claims

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

• Mathew Wayne established the Gadlys ironworks in the 1820s, supplied from small local levels; the Old and New pits, sunk by the Waynes' Gadlys Iron Co. to the Five Feet seam at 140 yards, were working by 1844. (disputed) ¹
• Gadlys was one of the earliest mines in the Cynon Valley, opened c.1802 to feed the Gadlys Iron Works; in 1871 it was reported to have opened about 1827, with one 68-yard winding shaft working the Upper Four Feet seam and 32,984 tons raised in 1870. (disputed) ²
• Five men were killed in a gas explosion on 24 April 1848, another explosion on 4 October 1871 killed five (four at the time, William Isaac later of his injuries), and one on 24 October 1872 claimed four more. ¹
• The explosion of 4 October 1871 killed four: David Davies (27), Thomas Hamlett (11), David Jones (28) and David Morse (18). (disputed) ²
• Wayne's Merthyr Company owned it in 1884; the New pit employed 245 in 1896; it abandoned the Five Feet on closure in July 1902, and the Gadlys River Level worked until 25 February 1939. ^1,2

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Gadlys Colliery — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (secondary) Gadlys Colliery — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (primary) Gadlys / Victoria / Dare / Park / Cwmdare Upcast / Horseway Level (Mining Remediation Authority abandonment plan, via BGS catalogue) — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority
4. (secondary) History of Aberdare, Chapter 8 — Cynon Valley History Society

Record created: 19 September 2026 · Last researched: 19 September 2026