Glenavon Colliery

Overview

A drift mine at Croeserw in the Afan valley, locally known as 'The Squint', opened in 1899 and worked into the 1940s. Five colliers drowned in an inrush of water from old workings in 1900, four years after opening (see Disasters, below).

History

Glenavon Colliery was opened as a drift mine at Croeserw in the Afan valley in 1899, worked by the Glenavon Rhondda Collieries Company, Limited into the No.2 Rhondda seam. On 24 October 1900 an inrush of water from the old, adjoining Caerau workings drowned five colliers (see Disasters, below). The colliery was incorporated as Glenavon Garw Collieries Ltd in 1907, owned by R. McEwen and W.F. Gibb of Post Office Chambers, Port Talbot, a member of the Monmouthshire and South Wales Coal Owners Association; by 1908 it employed 98 men underground and 21 on the surface under manager J.E. Hughes, rising to 176 men by 1913. Employment fell through the 1910s — 117 men in 1915 under manager I.H. Williams, 69 men in the years 1916-19 under W. Charles — before recovering somewhat under later managers. In 1929 the colliery's agent and manager were each fined £5, and the under-manager £2.50, for a breach of the Coal Mines Act after the pit was worked for two days with only one shaft in operation. By 1934 the parent company controlled six collieries, producing 850,000 tons of coal a year and employing 3,338 miners in total; Glenavon itself employed around 115-128 men through the 1930s. It was not taken over by the National Coal Board at nationalisation in 1947; the last operating detail found for this pass is 1943-5, when E. Thomas managed the colliery with 83 men underground and 21 on the surface, still working the No.2 Rhondda seam. The exact closure date has not been established.

Geology

Worked the No.2 Rhondda seam of the South Wales Coalfield, recorded at 6 feet 5 inches thick where the fatal 1900 inrush occurred, close to a geological fault separating the Glenavon workings from the old, flooded Caerau workings.

Workings

A drift mine (not shaft-worked), driven into the No.2 Rhondda seam.

Closure

Not operated by the National Coal Board after nationalisation in 1947; the last detail found is from 1943-5, and the exact closure date has not been established.

What remains

Not established from the sources read for this pass.

Not established from the sources read for this pass.

Redevelopment

Not established from the sources read for this pass.

Nearby mines

• Caerau Colliery — 1.6 km SW, Bridgend
• Coegnant Colliery — 2.9 km SW, Bridgend
• St John's Colliery — 3.9 km S, Bridgend
• Glyncorrwg Colliery — 4.4 km N
• Fernhill Colliery — 4.7 km NE, Rhondda Cynon Taf

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

Disasters & major incidents

• Glenavon Colliery inrush, 1900
  24 October 1900 · Flooding / Inundation · 5 fatalities
  Five colliers drowned when a heading being driven towards old, water-filled workings at Glenavon Colliery broke through on 24 October 1900 — the boring ahead of the face had underestimated a fault's throw and so missed the water it was meant to detect.

Recorded claims

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

• Opened as a drift mine at Croeserw, Afan valley, in 1899, known locally as 'The Squint'. ¹
• Owned by the Glenavon Rhondda Collieries Company, Limited at the time of the 1900 disaster. ²
• Incorporated as Glenavon Garw Collieries Ltd in 1907, owned by R. McEwen and W.F. Gibb; by 1934 the parent company ran six collieries with 3,338 miners producing 850,000 tons a year. ¹
• In 1929 the agent and manager were each fined £5, and the under-manager £2.50, for working the pit two days with only one shaft operating, a breach of the Coal Mines Act. ¹
• Employment fluctuated from 98 men (1908) up to 176 (1913), down to 61-117 through the mid-to-late 1910s, and around 83-128 through the 1930s and into 1943-5; not taken over by the NCB at nationalisation in 1947. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Glenavon Colliery (Welsh Coal Mines) — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (secondary) Glenavon Colliery Inrush - Rhondda - 1900 — Northern Mine Research Society

Record created: 13 September 2026 · Last researched: 14 September 2026