Genwen Colliery

Overview

A Llanelli colliery founded by Chauncey Townsend in 1766 as the Llwynhendy Fire Engine Pit, whose listed engine house of 1805-06 is among the oldest in the Welsh coalfield. An explosion in 1907 killed four miners and two rescuers, the owners were prosecuted, and the pit was abandoned and flooded.

History

Genwen Colliery, near Llanelli, was founded in 1766 by Chauncey Townsend, who sank it to the Swansea Five Feet seam at 249 feet; it was known at first as the Llwynhendy Fire Engine Pit. General George Warde built its steam pumping-engine house in 1805 or 1806, for a Boulton and Watt engine, on the site of an earlier Newcomen engine house, and the building survives and is listed. Drifts from the surface later worked the Swansea Four Feet seam. The pit had a chequered life with long idle spells, falling out of use from the mid-1820s by one account. The Nevills deepened the shafts to 318 feet in the 1860s, but it closed in 1866 and stayed shut for over thirty years until David Harry reopened it in 1897; it employed 69 men in 1900. It was a notoriously gassy pit, and three explosions are recorded there. On the evening of 5 March 1907 an explosion in the headings of the Four Feet seam, 1,364 yards from the shaft, killed the four men at the face, and two rescuers died in the afterdamp. At the inquest the owners blamed the dead men for smoking, but the jury rejected this and a defective safety lamp was found to be the cause; the inspector found breaches of the rules on lamps and ventilation, and the owners, prosecuted, pleaded guilty and were fined. While the mine was being reopened, fire from spontaneous combustion broke out in a fall of coal; the owners abandoned it, and when pumping stopped in 1908 the colliery flooded. It never reopened.

Geology

The Swansea Five Feet and Four Feet seams of the Upper Pennant Series, which carries more fully developed seams around Llanelli than anywhere else in the South Wales coalfield; the Four Feet averaged about seven feet of coal in three leaves and gave off firedamp freely.

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

Workings

Two shafts ten yards apart, sunk to the Swansea Five Feet at 249 feet and deepened to 318 feet in the 1860s (the Four Feet seam at 76 and 90 yards in 1907), the downcast fitted with a Cornish pumping engine and pump rods; drifts worked the Swansea Four Feet seam; in 1907 a pair of narrow headings 17 yards apart, ventilated by a 25-foot Waddle fan and brattice tubes.

Closure

Abandoned after the 1907 explosion when fire from spontaneous combustion broke out during reopening; pumping ceased in 1908 and the colliery flooded. It had earlier stood idle from 1866 to 1897.

What remains

The steam engine house built by George Warde in 1805-06 survives and is a listed building.

The engine house of 1805-06; a level entrance of the 1830s lies just to the west.

Nearby mines

• Glynea Colliery — 0.5 km SE
• Morlais Colliery — 1.7 km NE
• St David's Colliery — 1.9 km NW
• Broad Oak Colliery, Loughor — 2.6 km E, Swansea
• Brynlliw Colliery — 3.1 km E, Swansea

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

People

• John Benyon · manager, 1907 — Certificated undermanager in 1907, who led the first party down after the explosion.
• David Harry · owner, from 1897 — Reopened the colliery in 1897.
• Chauncey Townsend (d. 1770) · founder, from 1766 — Founded the colliery in 1766 and sank it to the Swansea Five Feet seam.
• George Warde · owner, 1805–1806 — Built the Boulton and Watt pumping-engine house in 1805-06.

What's uncertain

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

• The Nevills deepened the shafts to 318 feet in the 1860s; the pit closed in 1866 and remained closed for over 30 years until David Harry reopened it in 1897; 69 men were employed in 1900. (disputed) ¹
• The colliery fell out of use from the mid-1820s until the Llanelly Copperworks Company installed a new engine and deepened the pit, working it until 1907. (disputed) ²

Recorded claims

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

• Sunk by Townsend to the Swansea 5 feet seam at 249 feet in the 1760s, the mine was formerly the Llwynhendy Fire Engine Pit; General Warde built the steam pumping-engine house, now listed, in 1805. ¹
• Mining at Genwen began in 1766 under Chauncey Townsend; the Boulton and Watt engine house was built by George Warde in 1806 on the site of an earlier Newcomen engine house; a level entrance of the 1830s lies to the west. ²
• The Nevills deepened the shafts to 318 feet in the 1860s; the pit closed in 1866 and remained closed for over 30 years until David Harry reopened it in 1897; 69 men were employed in 1900. (disputed) ¹
• The colliery fell out of use from the mid-1820s until the Llanelly Copperworks Company installed a new engine and deepened the pit, working it until 1907. (disputed) ²
• On 5 March 1907 an explosion killed four miners and two rescuers died in the afterdamp; the jury rejected the owners' claim that the men had been smoking, a defective safety lamp was found to be the cause, and the owners pleaded guilty to criminal charges and were fined. ^1,3
• While the mine was being reopened after the explosion a fire from spontaneous combustion broke out in a fall of coal, and the owners abandoned the colliery; when pumping ceased in 1908 it flooded. ^3,2

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Genwen Colliery — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (primary) Genwen Colliery, Bynea (Coflein NPRN 33396) — Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales
3. (secondary) Genwen Colliery Explosion - Llanelli - 1907 — Northern Mine Research Society
4. (primary) Genwen (Mining Remediation Authority abandonment plan, via BGS catalogue item 21891802) — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority

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