Garn Colliery, Nantyglo

Overview

A small level at Nantyglo, worked for stone before Sylvanus Jones — who ran several small pits in the district outside the coal owners' association — took it over in the early twentieth century. It was linked into a wider group of Jones-run levels alongside the larger California Colliery.

History

Garn Colliery was listed in 1896 as being worked for stone only. By 1908 it was owned and managed by Sylvanus Jones, employing 16 men underground and 2 on the surface under manager Arthur Parry; Jones was not a member of the Monmouthshire and South Wales Coal Owners Association, a district where his was one of several small independent operators. Garn was one of a cluster of workings — alongside California, Peggy's, Prior's and Nantyglo Deep — linked underground or by tramway in the same part of Nantyglo; the much larger California Colliery, also under Jones's ownership from 1908, grew from 79 men that year to 101 by 1911, giving a sense of the scale of Jones's wider operation even though Garn's own workforce stayed small. By 1938 only two men worked underground at Garn and one on the surface. Jones's business did not survive him unscathed: he was declared bankrupt in October 1925, by then living in Newport. Garn was later worked again under a National Coal Board licence in the 1950s and 1960s by J.H.G. Mitchell.

Geology

Unknown; the sources name no specific seam at Garn itself, only that the linked California Colliery worked the Black, Elled, Big and Three-quarter seams.

Workings

A small level, worked for stone before 1908 and for coal after, linked to the nearby California, Peggy's, Prior's and Nantyglo Deep workings.

Closure

No closure date was found for Jones's working of the level; it was down to two men underground by 1938 and was relicensed to J.H.G. Mitchell under the National Coal Board in the 1950s and 1960s.

What remains

Unknown.

Nearby mines

• Forge Colliery, Nantyglo — 0.4 km NW
• Milfraen Colliery — 1.1 km SE, Torfaen
• East Blaina Red Ash Colliery — 1.5 km SE
• Clydach Colliery, Brynmawr — 1.9 km NW
• North Blaina Colliery — 2.2 km SW

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

Recorded claims

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

• Listed in 1896 as worked for stone only; by 1908 owned and managed by Sylvanus Jones, employing 16 men underground and 2 on the surface under manager Arthur Parry, and not a member of the district coal owners' association. ¹
• Garn was linked to the nearby California, Peggy's, Prior's and Nantyglo Deep workings, also run by Sylvanus Jones; California alone grew from 79 men in 1908 to 101 by 1911. ²
• Sylvanus Jones was declared bankrupt in October 1925, by then living in Newport, Monmouthshire. ²
• Garn was worked again under National Coal Board licence in the 1950s and 1960s by J.H.G. Mitchell, having employed only two men underground and one on the surface in 1938. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Small Collieries of the Ebbw Valley — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Coalbrook Vale — Welsh Coal Mines

Record created: 14 September 2026 · Last researched: 15 September 2026