Gwaunclawdd Colliery

Overview

An anthracite slant at Abercrave in the upper Swansea Valley, driven into the Nine Feet or Big Vein near its outcrop under Mynydd Drum and served by the Neath and Brecon Railway. Plans of its workings go back to 1818. It was held by the Ystalyfera Iron Company in the 1860s-80s, grew to over 300 men under the Gwaunclawdd Abercrave company during the First World War, abandoned its seams in 1927, and closed in 1938.

History

Coal was worked at Gwaunclawdd early: the oldest abandonment plans held by the Mining Remediation Authority, of the Big, Four Feet, White and Penny Pieces seams and ironstone near the boundary river, are dated 1818, and another of the Four Feet is dated 1882. NMRS records George Flook as owner in 1865 and the Ystalyfera Iron Company in 1869 and 1878-83, with R.C. Fisher and then E.R. Fisher as manager. A plan of the Nine Feet and Brass seams is dated June 1898. In 1893 the Anthracite Syndicate of London had just four men underground. By 1896 the Big Vein Anthracite Colliery Company of Swansea employed 68 underground and 9 at the surface under Morgan W. Davies, and in 1908 E.L. Davies managed 101 men. By 1913 the Gwaunclawdd Abercrave Colliery Company, owned by D.E. Rees of Castle Square, Swansea, and outside the coal owners' association, employed 269, rising to 320 in 1916 under Thomas Jones. Two colliers were killed by falls in 1917 and 1918. Under D.J. Waters the colliery employed about 220 men after the war and produced 60,000 tons with 181 men in 1923. In the late 1920s Gwaunclawdd came under Welsh Anthracite Collieries. The Eighteen Feet seam was abandoned in January 1927 and the Brass in June, and plans of the Blewers, Big, Four Feet, Brass and White seams all carry that year. It was then listed as being developed in 1930-35, and NMRS dates its closure to 1938. Its ground lay under Mynydd Drum with Abercrave and International collieries, and a later plan of the Middle (Upper Gellideg) seam, dated 1967, is titled Abercrave, Gwaunclawdd.

Geology

Driven into the Nine Feet seam near its outcrop. The section recorded the Two Feet Nine (19 in), Upper Four Feet or White (31 in at 11 ft 3 in), Six Feet or Eighteen Feet (37 in at 51 ft 3 in), Red Vein (36 in), Nine Feet or Big Vein (10 ft 8 in at 166 ft 6 in), Bute or Brass Vein (42 in at 231 ft 8 in) and Gellideg or Bluers (38 in at 464 ft 2 in).

Geological setting: Sedimentary Beds and Seams (historical documentary reference)

Workings

An anthracite slant with a fan pit and upcast; abandonment plans cover the Big Vein, Two Feet, Four Feet, Eighteen Feet, White, Brass, Blewers, Penny Pieces and Stwrin seams and ironstone. Its later workings were planned together with Abercrave and International collieries.

Closure

The Eighteen Feet seam was abandoned in January 1927 and the Brass seam in June 1927, after it came under Welsh Anthracite Collieries. It was listed as being developed in 1930-35, and NMRS says it closed in 1938.

What remains

Unknown; no report of surviving remains was found.

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown. The nearby Pont Gwaunclawdd canal basin, the northern end of the Swansea Canal, is now a bus depot.

Related mines

• Abercrave Colliery — Both worked under Mynydd Drum at Abercrave, and a 1967 plan covers Abercrave and Gwaunclawdd together.
• Yniscedwyn Colliery — Neighbours: Gwaunclawdd lay to the north of Yniscedwyn.
• Ystalyfera Colliery — Both were worked by the Ystalyfera Iron Company in the 1860s-80s.

Nearby mines

• International Colliery, Abercrave — 0.4 km E
• Abercrave Colliery — 1.5 km E
• Hendreladais Colliery — 1.8 km W
• Seven Sisters Colliery — 2.9 km S, Neath Port Talbot
• Yniscedwyn Colliery — 3.1 km SW

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

People

• E.L. Davies · manager, 1908 — Manager of Gwaunclawdd in 1908.
• Morgan W. Davies · manager, 1896 — Manager of Gwaunclawdd for the Big Vein Anthracite Colliery Company in 1896.
• E.R. Fisher · manager, 1883 — Manager of Gwaunclawdd in 1883.
• R.C. Fisher · manager, 1869–1883 — Manager of Gwaunclawdd for the Ystalyfera Iron Company in 1869 and 1878-83.
• George Flook · owner, 1865 — Owner of Gwaunclawdd Colliery in 1865.
• W. James · manager, 1927 — Manager of Gwaunclawdd for Gwaunclawdd Abercrave Collieries Limited in 1927.
• Thomas Jones · manager, 1913–1916 — Manager of Gwaunclawdd in 1913-16.
• William Jones (d. 1917) · victim, to 1917 — A 40-year-old collier killed by a fall of roof at Gwaunclawdd on 16 July 1917.
• D.E. Rees · owner, 1913 — Owner of the Gwaunclawdd Abercrave Colliery Company, of Castle Square, Swansea, by 1913.
• D.J. Waters · manager, 1918–1923 — Manager of Gwaunclawdd from 1918 to at least 1923.
• David Williams (d. 1918) · victim, to 1918 — A collier killed by a fall of stone at Gwaunclawdd in June 1918.

What's uncertain

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

• NMRS heads its page 'Ystalyfera', but its grid reference, the BGS plans (Powys) and Welsh Coal Mines place the colliery at Abercrave, working under Mynydd Drum with Abercrave and International collieries. (disputed) ^6,2,4

Recorded claims

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

• Mining Remediation Authority plans of Gwaunclawdd and the boundary river, covering the Big, Four Feet, White and Penny Pieces seams and ironstone, are dated 1818. ¹
• George Flook owned the slant in 1865 and the Ystalyfera Iron Company in 1869 and 1878-83. ²
• Manpower was 77 in 1896, 269 in 1913 and 1915, 320 in 1916 and 181 in 1923, when it produced 60,000 tons. ²
• By 1913 the Gwaunclawdd Abercrave Colliery Company, owned by D.E. Rees of Swansea, held the colliery; it was not in the coal owners' association. ²
• Plans of the Nine Feet and Brass are dated 28 June 1898; plans of the Blewers, Big, Four Feet, Brass, White and Eighteen Feet seams are dated 1927. ^3,4,5
• The Eighteen Feet seam was abandoned in January 1927 and the Brass in June 1927; the colliery was listed as developing in 1930-35 and closed in 1938. ²
• NMRS heads its page 'Ystalyfera', but its grid reference, the BGS plans (Powys) and Welsh Coal Mines place the colliery at Abercrave, working under Mynydd Drum with Abercrave and International collieries. (disputed) ^6,2,4
• Gwaunclawdd lay to the north of Yniscedwyn Colliery. ⁷
• William Jones, 40, collier, was killed by a fall of roof on 16 July 1917, and David Williams, collier, by a fall of stone on 27 June 1918. ^8,9
• A 1967 abandonment plan of the Middle (Upper Gellideg) seam is titled 'Abercrave, Gwaunclawdd'. ¹⁰

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans: GWAUNCLAWDD, BOUNDARY RIVER (1818) — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority
2. (secondary) Gwaunclawdd Colliery — Northern Mine Research Society (Ray Lawrence)
3. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans: GWAUNCLAWDD (Nine Feet, Brass, 1898) — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority
4. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans: GWAUNCLAWDD (Blewers, Big, Four Feet, Brass, 1927) — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority
5. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans: GWAUNCLAWDD (White, Eighteen Feet, 1927) — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority
6. (secondary) Abercrave – Abercraf Colliery — Welsh Coal Mines — Welsh Coal Mines
7. (secondary) Yniscedwyn Colliery — Northern Mine Research Society (read via an August 2024 Wayback Machine capture)
8. (secondary) 1918 (Welsh mining fatalities by date) — Welsh Coal Mines
9. (secondary) 1917 (Welsh mining fatalities by date) — Welsh Coal Mines
10. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans: ABERCRAVE, GWAUNCLAWDD (Middle, 1967) — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority

Record created: 17 September 2026 · Last researched: 17 September 2026