Henllys Vale Colliery

Overview

One of the most northerly anthracite slants in the South Wales Coalfield, worked near Cwmllynfell from around 1890 to 1918. Its exceptionally tall Victorian chimney and limekilns survive as listed structures, restored under a 1980s land reclamation scheme.

History

Henllys Vale Colliery, near Cwmllynfell, was one of the most northerly anthracite slants in the South Wales Coalfield, opened around 1890. It was owned in turn by the Black Mountain Anthracite Co., the Henllys Vale Anthracite Co. (1900), Henllys Vale Anthracite Co. Ltd (1905) and New Henllys Anthracite Co. Ltd (1908), before passing to the Henllys Anthracite Company Limited of Swansea by 1913. In 1908 it employed 103 men underground and 28 on the surface under manager R.E. Rees; by 1913–5 manpower had grown to 128 under H. Griffiths. It abandoned its Middle Seam in November 1914 and was not listed in 1917; by 1918 it had been abandoned outright by the Colliery Investment Trust Limited of Swansea. The colliery's chimney, over 30 metres tall and unusually so for the constricted valley setting, served the boiler for a haulage engine that operated the drift; it is circular on an octagonal base, built in red brick banded in alternating courses. Most of the colliery's other buildings were demolished in the 1950s, but the chimney and the adjacent bank of limekilns — predating the colliery by some years, fed by an incline railway into the Black Mountain — were restored under a land reclamation scheme around 1986 and are listed structures today.

Geology

Worked the Middle Seam, abandoned in November 1914, of the South Wales Coalfield's anthracite belt.

Workings

An anthracite slant driven north from the valley, working the Middle Seam among others; haulage was worked by a steam engine whose exceptionally tall chimney survives.

Closure

Abandoned by the Colliery Investment Trust Limited by 1918, having last appeared in the record in 1915.

What remains

The colliery's over-30-metre chimney and adjacent limekilns survive as listed structures, restored under a land reclamation scheme around 1986; most other colliery buildings were demolished in the 1950s.

Nearby mines

• Hendreladais Colliery — 2.6 km S, Powys
• Brynhenllys Colliery — 2.7 km W, Powys
• International Colliery, Abercrave — 3.6 km SE, Powys
• Yniscedwyn Colliery — 4.2 km S, Powys
• Abercrave Colliery — 4.6 km SE, Powys

Straight-line distance, within 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.

• One of the most northerly anthracite slants in the South Wales Coalfield, opened around 1890 and initially owned by the Black Mountain Anthracite Co., later the Henllys Vale Anthracite Co. and New Henllys Anthracite Co. Ltd. ^1,2
• Employed 103 men underground and 28 on the surface in 1908, growing to 128 by 1913–5; abandoned its Middle Seam in November 1914 and was abandoned outright by 1918. ¹
• The colliery's haulage-engine chimney, over 30 metres tall, and the adjacent limekilns survive as listed structures, restored around 1986 after most other buildings were demolished in the 1950s. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Small collieries of the Swansea Valley: Waunlwyd Colliery — Northern Mine Research Society (read via a 2024 Wayback Machine capture)
2. (primary) Henllys Vale Colliery Chimney, Quarter Bach (listed building) — Cadw / British Listed Buildings

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