Graigola Colliery

Overview

A Pontardawe level dating to an 18th-century lease, briefly notable in 1837 as one of only three south Wales collieries on the Royal Navy's approved coal list.

History

A colliery on this site was already being worked as early as 1791, when Richard Parsons leased land between the Tawe and Neath rivers and opened levels called Ynys Simon or Graig Olau. John Parsons was joined in ownership by J.T. Price in 1830, and the mine was expanded; in 1837 its coal was one of only three from south Wales placed on the Royal Navy's approved list, and by 1843 it was producing 45,000 tons of coal a year with 65 men employed.

Ownership passed to Benson and Smith by 1858, and by 1909 to the Graigola Colliery Company, employing 87 men under manager David J. Jones. The Llwyndu Colliery Company owned it by 1915, still working it through the early 1920s with a workforce of around 66 men underground and 7 on the surface under manager H. Griffiths.

Workings

Levels called Ynys Simon or Graig Olau, opened 1791; one of only three south Wales collieries whose coal was placed on the Royal Navy's approved list in 1837.

What's uncertain

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

• Grace's Guide's independent record of the Graigola Merthyr Co (of Cambrian Place, Swansea, formed by Thomas Cory and Frank Yeo in 1879) confirms it as a real, substantial colliery-proprietor firm operating in the same Pontardawe district under the closely related "Graigola" name, though it names the company's acquisition by D.R. Llewellyn in 1918 rather than Graigola Colliery's own Benson and Smith/Graigola Colliery Company/Llwyndu succession — the two accounts are not claimed to describe identical ownership. (uncertain) ^1,2

Recorded claims

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

• Worked from at least 1791 under Richard Parsons, expanded from 1830 by John Parsons and J.T. Price, and in 1837 was one of only three south Wales collieries on the Royal Navy's approved coal list, producing 45,000 tons of coal in 1843 with 65 men employed. ¹
• Ownership passed through Benson and Smith (by 1858), the Graigola Colliery Company (1909, 87 men under manager David J. Jones) and the Llwyndu Colliery Company (from 1915, around 66 men underground and 7 on the surface by 1923 under manager H. Griffiths). ¹
• Grace's Guide's independent record of the Graigola Merthyr Co (of Cambrian Place, Swansea, formed by Thomas Cory and Frank Yeo in 1879) confirms it as a real, substantial colliery-proprietor firm operating in the same Pontardawe district under the closely related "Graigola" name, though it names the company's acquisition by D.R. Llewellyn in 1918 rather than Graigola Colliery's own Benson and Smith/Graigola Colliery Company/Llwyndu succession — the two accounts are not claimed to describe identical ownership. (uncertain) ^1,2

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Small collieries in the Pontardawe area — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Graigola Merthyr Co — Grace's Guide to British Industrial History

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