MineArchiveGuerets Colliery
| Also known as | Gueret's Graigola Colliery, Ynyspenllwch Colliery, Swansea Graigola |
|---|---|
| Location | Clydach, lower Swansea Valley, Swansea — 51.6939, -3.8859 (approximate) |
| Commodity | Coal |
| Type | Coal |
| Worked | Early 1850s (Ynyspenllwch slant)–1904 |
| Maximum depth | 143 yards (shaft, to the Graigola seam) |
| Operators | L. and H. Gueret and Co. (1887–1904), Hendy Merthyr Colliery Company, National Coal Board |
Overview
A Clydach colliery of the Gueret company, sunk in 1889 to the Graigola seam beside the older Ynyspenllwch slant, closed in 1904 and reopened in the 1940s as Felinfran's return airway.
History
Guerets Colliery was at Clydach, in the lower Swansea Valley. Its forerunner, the Ynyspenllwch slant, was working the Graigola seam in the early 1850s and was abandoned some time between 1877 and 1886. L. and H. Gueret and Co. took the take over in 1887 and in 1889 sank a pit nearby to the Graigola, which became known as Gueret's Graigola; the slant was abandoned in 1891 and work concentrated at the pit, though the slant was probably kept for ventilation.
L. Gueret worked it in 1893 with C. W. Lancaster as manager. In 1896 it employed 37, producing manufacturing coal, and numbers rose to 134 in 1899 and 145 in 1903. In October 1895 two men riding the upcast shaft were scalded to death by released steam while the engineman was away from his post. The pit closed in 1904, the year its Graigola workings were abandoned.
The old pit later stood in the Mond Nickel Company's yard. The Hendy Merthyr Colliery Company reopened the workings in the 1940s as the return airway for its Felinfran Colliery, pumping them out and driving over 1,000 yards of road; the National Coal Board merged them with Felinfran in 1950.
Geology
South Wales Coal Measures: the Graigola seam, worked from the slant and the pit.
Workings
The Ynyspenllwch slant on the Graigola seam, and a single 18-foot shaft sunk in 1889 to the Graigola.
Closure
Closed in 1904, when the Graigola workings were abandoned. The workings were reopened in the 1940s to ventilate Felinfran Colliery and merged with it by the National Coal Board in 1950.
What remains
Unknown.
Redevelopment
Unknown.
Related mines
- Felinfran Colliery — Felinfran's Graigola workings used Gueret's pit and slant as their return airway from 1946, and the NCB merged the two in 1950.
Nearby mines
- Cwmclydach Graigola Colliery — 0.5 miles (0.7 km) N, Neath Port Talbot
- Felinfran Colliery — 0.6 miles (1.0 km) SW
- Tynywain Colliery — 0.7 miles (1.0 km) NE, Neath Port Talbot
- Goitre Colliery — 0.8 miles (1.4 km) N, Neath Port Talbot
- Graigola Colliery — 1.3 miles (2.0 km) E, Neath Port Talbot
Straight-line distance, within 9 miles (15 km). Show on the map.
Recorded claims
Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.
- L. and H. Gueret and Co. took over in 1887 and sank a pit to the Graigola seam in 1889. 1,2
- The shaft was sunk 132 yards. 1,2
- The shaft was 18 feet across and 143 yards deep to the Graigola. 2
- It employed 37 in 1896 and 145 in 1903. 1,2
- The colliery closed in 1904. 1,2,3
- Its workings were reopened in the 1940s as the return airway for Felinfran Colliery. 1,2
Photographs & further reading
The slant and pit, their owners and how the old workings were reused for Felinfran.
View sourceThe Guerets Graigola entry: sinking, managers, employment and closure.
View sourceSources
- (secondary) Small collieries in the Pontardawe area worked under NCB licence (Wernddu Colliery entry) — Northern Mine Research Society (information from Ray Lawrence)
- (secondary) Guerets and Felinfran — Welsh Coal Mines
- (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: GUERETS GRAIGOLA, Graigola seam, abandoned 1904 — British Geological Survey
Record created: 10 October 2026 · Last researched: 10 October 2026