Garnant Colliery

Overview

An Amman Valley colliery at Cwmamman, probably one of the oldest in the area and known locally as Pwll Perkins after early owners. Its waterwheel powered the workings. On a January morning in 1884 the winding rope snapped with ten men crowded into a cage meant for eight, and all ten were killed — the worst mining disaster in the Amman Valley.

History

Probably one of the oldest mines in the district, the colliery was known as Pwll Perkins after Perkins and Sons, at one time its owners; power for the workings came from a waterwheel. David Pugh, MP for Cardiganshire and chief shareholder of the Garnant Colliery Company, later purchased it. At about five in the morning on Wednesday 16 January 1884 the winding rope snapped as men were being lowered to work, and the cage fell 225 feet to the bottom of the shaft. Ten men and boys were killed — four of them sixteen or younger (see Disasters, below). By 1908 the colliery was owned by Cawdor and Garnant Collieries Ltd of Garnant, with 69 men working underground and 33 on the surface. The Gors y Garnant pit closed in 1912.

Geology

The colliery worked the anthracite of the Amman Valley, in the western part of the South Wales Coalfield where the coal is of the highest rank. This is the same district and the same class of coal as the collieries at Brynamman and Cwmamman from which most of the 1884 victims came.

Workings

A shaft colliery worked in the anthracite district of the Amman Valley, with a waterwheel providing power. The shaft was at least 225 feet deep. Not more than eight men were normally allowed to descend in the cage at one time. A separate Gors y Garnant pit is recorded as closing in 1912.

Closure

The Gors y Garnant pit closed in 1912. No closure date has been found for the colliery as a whole.

What remains

No account of the present state of the colliery site has been found.

Not established.

Nearby mines

• Betws Colliery — 5.3 km W
• Wernos Colliery — 6.4 km W
• Tarenni Colliery — 9.4 km SE, Neath Port Talbot
• Gleision Colliery — 9.7 km SE, Neath Port Talbot
• Primrose Colliery — 11.2 km SE, Neath Port Talbot

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

Disasters & major incidents

• Garnant Colliery Disaster, 1884
  16 January 1884 · Winding / Shaft Accident · 10 fatalities
  At about five on the morning of Wednesday 16 January 1884, ten men crowded into a cage at Garnant Colliery that was meant to carry eight. The winding rope snapped and the cage fell 225 feet to the bottom of the shaft. All ten were killed — four of them aged sixteen or under. They had come early so as to finish in time for a funeral.

Recorded claims

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

• The colliery was known as Pwll Perkins after Perkins and Sons, at one time its owners, and was later purchased by David Pugh, MP, chief shareholder of the Garnant Colliery Company. (medium) ¹
• A waterwheel produced the power for the colliery. (medium) ¹
• The Welsh Coal Mines colliery page states that ten men were killed and names exactly ten, and the Cwmamman History site dedicated to the disaster is titled in memory of the ten. The Welsh Coal Mines list of Welsh mining disasters gives 18 for the same date. (disputed) ^1,2
• By 1908 the owner was Cawdor and Garnant Collieries Ltd of Garnant, with 69 men working underground and 33 on the surface. The Gors y Garnant pit closed in 1912. (medium) ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Garnant Colliery, Cwmamman — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (secondary) The Garnant Colliery Disaster — Cwmamman History

Record created: 3 September 2026 · Last researched: 3 September 2026