Gwenallt Colliery

Overview

A pit at Cwmffrwdoer near Pontypool, also called Jack Pit, that employed 208 men in 1908, stopped producing in 1929 and was kept as a pumping pit for its neighbours into the 1960s.

History

Gwenallt Colliery, also called Jack Pit, was at Cwmffrwdoer near Pontypool. In 1880 its owners were listed as the Blaendare Coal Co. Ltd, then in liquidation; it was later owned by Partridge Jones & John Paton Ltd until nationalisation in 1947. Enoch Williams, a sinker, was killed there in 1900.

It employed 208 men in 1908 and 125 in 1918, but only 25 in 1923, working the Big Vein. The downcast shaft was 234.7 ft to the pit bottom, landing on plates in the Meadow Vein at 187.7 ft; the upcast reached the Meadow Vein at 135.3 ft. The Meadow Vein there held 7 ft 9 in of coal in its main leaf.

The colliery stopped working coal in 1929 and was kept for pumping for the Tirpentwys and Llanerch pits; it was also connected to Blaenserchan Colliery through the Meadow Vein. The lists show it 'driving a cross measure' every year from 1921 to 1949, when it was apparently abandoned, but in June 1960 the South Wales Board approved £18,723 for a submersible pump in the downcast shaft, so it was still pumping then.

Geology

The Big Vein, Black and Meadow Vein seams; the Meadow Vein held 7 ft 9 in of coal in its main leaf.

Workings

Two shafts: a downcast, 234.7 ft to the pit bottom with the Meadow Vein landing at 187.7 ft, and an upcast reaching the Meadow Vein at 135.3 ft.

Closure

Stopped producing in 1929 and kept for pumping for Tirpentwys and Llanerch; the Big, Black and Meadow workings are on a 1949 abandonment plan, and a submersible pump was approved for the downcast shaft in 1960.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Blaenserchan Colliery — Gwenallt was connected to Blaenserchan through the Meadow Vein.
• Llanerch Colliery — Gwenallt was kept as a pumping pit for Llanerch after 1929.
• Tirpentwys Colliery — Gwenallt was kept as a pumping pit for Tirpentwys after 1929.

Recorded claims

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

• Gwenallt Colliery was also called Jack Pit. ^1,2
• In 1880 the owners were listed as the Blaendare Coal Co. Ltd, in liquidation. ¹
• It employed 208 men in 1908, 125 in 1918 and 25 in 1923. ¹
• The downcast shaft was 234.7 ft to the pit bottom, landing in the Meadow Vein at 187.7 ft. ¹
• It closed in 1929 and was retained for pumping for the Tirpentwys and Llanerch pits. ¹
• Its Big, Black and Meadow seam workings are on an abandonment plan of 1949. ³
• In June 1960 the South Wales Board approved £18,723 for a submersible pump in the downcast shaft. ¹
• Enoch Williams, a sinker aged 25, was killed there in 1900; Edward Barwood, John Stevens and William Smithy died in 1909 and Stanley Taylor in 1910. ⁴

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Welsh Coal Mines: Gwenallt Colliery, Cwmffrwdoer — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: GWENALLT AREA JACK PIT NEW PIT (MORRISON'S OR WILLIAMS), Meadow Vein — British Geological Survey
3. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: GWENALLT, Big, Black and Meadow seams, shaft section, abandoned 1949 — British Geological Survey
4. (secondary) NMRS coal mining accidents and deaths database: Coytrahén Park, Tondu — Northern Mine Research Society

Record created: 10 October 2026 · Last researched: 10 October 2026