Graham's Navigation Colliery

Overview

A Tredegar pit sunk by the Sirhowy Company in 1843 as Edward James's First Class Pit, later the No. 9, and renamed Graham's Navigation after its owner T. C. Graham. With a level of the same name it employed over 700 men in 1923, working steam coal, and closed around 1925.

History

The Sirhowy Company sank the pit at Tredegar in 1843. It was first called Edward James's First Class Pit, after the man in charge of the sinking, and later became the No. 9. It was renamed Graham's Navigation Colliery after a new owner, T. C. Graham, and by 1908 it belonged to Graham's Navigation (Merthyr) Collieries Ltd. A level of the same name was worked alongside the pit.

In 1908 there were 217 men at the No. 9 and 29 at the level. By 1918 there were 400 at the pit and 205 at the level, and in 1923 the pit's 444 men produced steam coal from the Yard, Gwarycae and Engine seams while 295 men at the level worked the Three Quarter and Big Vein seams. In September 1908 a shunter, Thomas Jones, had his legs run over by trucks on a siding the inspector found uneven and cluttered with rubbish. In February 1913 Sidney Edwards, a fifteen-year-old collier's butty, fell to the pit bottom from a landing 45 yards above it when the cage was lowered on a misread signal; no hitcher was posted at the landing.

The colliery closed around 1925. Its Upper Six Feet (Yard) workings are on a combined abandonment plan with Ty Trist, Bedwellty and Whitworth, dated 1 August 1927.

Geology

Steam coal from the Yard, Gwarycae and Engine seams at the pit, and from the Three Quarter and Big Vein seams at the level.

Workings

A shaft, the No. 9 pit, with a level of the same name worked beside it. In 1913 the cage served a landing 45 yards above the pit bottom.

Closure

Closed around 1925; its Upper Six Feet (Yard) workings were abandoned with those of neighbouring Tredegar pits in August 1927.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Recorded claims

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

• The Sirhowy Company sank the pit in 1843; it was first called Edward James's First Class Pit, after the man in charge of the sinking. ^1,2
• It was later called the No. 9 pit and renamed Graham's Navigation Colliery after its owner T. C. Graham. ^1,2
• In 1923 the pit employed 444 men on the Yard, Gwarycae and Engine seams and the level 295 men on the Three Quarter and Big Vein seams. ¹
• Sidney Edwards, aged 15, fell to the pit bottom from a landing 45 yards above it on 20 February 1913 when the cage was lowered. ³
• The colliery closed around 1925. ^1,2

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Welsh Coal Mines: Graham's Colliery, Tredegar — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (secondary) Coflein: Graham's Navigation Colliery; Edward James' First Class Pit; Number 9 Pit; Sirhowy Colliery (NPRN 404196) — RCAHMW (Coflein)
3. (secondary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Sidney Edwards, Graham's Navigation, Tredegar, 20 February 1913 — Northern Mine Research Society
4. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: TY TRIST / BEDWELLTY WHITWORTH GRAHAMS NAVIGATION NO 4 NO 9 NO 9 DRIFT (Upper Six Feet (Yard)) — British Geological Survey
5. (secondary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Thomas Jones, Graham's Navigation, Tredegar, 12 September 1908 — Northern Mine Research Society

Record created: 11 October 2026 · Last researched: 11 October 2026