Gwscwm Colliery

Overview

A Pembrey colliery leased by the Pembrey Iron and Coal Company about 1818, flooded out in 1863, revived from 1898 to employ 368 men in 1922, and worked for fireclay after 1930.

History

Gwscwm Colliery lay beside the Burry Port and Gwendraeth Valley railway at Pembrey, west of Burry Port. Its coal, with that of Cwm Capel and Rhengog, was being carted to the wharf at Barnaby Pill in the 18th century. The Pembrey Iron and Coal Company leased it in about 1818; it was made up of several sites, among them Stanley's Pit.

John Stanley ran it from 1849 until 1863, when it was flooded out. Stanley and Co. had found coal three feet thick by boring a mile and a half to the west, but no shaft followed; the plant was sold in 1867. Mason and Elkington took it over in 1869, though it may never have been reopened. Evans and Williams took it in 1898 and employed 97 in 1900. Thomas Evans and Co. had it from 1908, and Pembrey Collieries Ltd from 1913; it reached its peak of 368 men in 1922 and was abandoned in 1930.

Thomas Evans and Co. bought the site from the liquidator and worked the fireclay: in 1937 it raised 3,996 tons of fireclay and only 21 tons of coal. It was recorded abandoned in 1944, but coal was still being raised in June 1945, and in 1948 and 1949 it was listed under J. I. Morris and E. J. Griffiths.

Geology

The Rhengog Fawr, Rhengog Fach, Gwscwm and Gwscwm Rider seams, and fireclay.

Workings

Several sites, including Stanley's Pit and a rider level in the Gwscwm Rider seam, worked at different times in the Rhengog Fawr, Rhengog Fach, Gwscwm and Gwscwm Rider seams.

Closure

Abandoned for coal in 1930, then worked for fireclay; recorded abandoned in 1944 and closing in 1945, but still listed in 1948 and 1949. The final closure date is unknown.

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 Pembrey Iron and Coal Company leased Gwscwm Colliery in about 1818. ¹
• John Stanley ran it from 1849 until it was flooded out in 1863. ¹
• Thomas Evans and Co. owned it in 1912. ^1,2
• Its peak workforce was 368 in 1922. ¹
• The Gwscwm, Rhengog Fawr and Rhengog Fach workings were abandoned in 1930. ^1,3
• In 1937 it raised 3,996 tons of fireclay and 21 tons of coal. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Welsh Coal Mines: Cwm Capel (with Gwscwm Colliery) — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (secondary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Thomas Gower, Gwscwm, Burry Port, 10 May 1912 — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: PEMBREY, GWSCWM, RHENGOG FACH OR FURNACE, RHENGOG FAWR, STANLEY'S, abandoned 1930 — British Geological Survey

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