Henwaun Colliery

Overview

The Henwain Pits at Blaina, sunk in the 1850s to feed the Nantyglo ironworks and later worked by John Lancaster and Company. A broken rope killed three men in 1855 and an explosion killed five or six in 1882; the colliery closed in 1922 when Beynon's opened.

History

Henwaun Colliery, the Henwain Pits, were two shafts a few yards apart at Blaina in the Ebbw Fach valley, sunk to 165 yards into the steam coal seams of the Lower and Middle Coal Series and carried 15 yards below the Three Quarter coal at 178 yards. Welsh Coal Mines has them sunk in the early 1850s by Cruttwell, Allies and Company; the Industrial Gwent survey says 1856, to feed the Nantyglo ironworks, and an 1882 account that the colliery had been sunk 25 years before. By 1857 J. and C. Bailey owned it for their ironworks. On 23 August 1855 the rope broke as three men were being wound up for their dinner, and they fell about 70 yards to their deaths. One of the pits raised ironstone, owned in 1861 by Levick and Simpson, and the Nantyglo and Blaina Company took the colliery over in about 1869; the Wigan firm of John Lancaster and Company had it from 1878, or 1881 by another account. On 27 February 1882 an explosion in the Three Quarter coal killed five men, six by one list; the colliery then employed about 330 and was worked with naked lights. The inquest found that the fireman, James Hoskins, himself among the dead, had let the night men in before examining the workings, and the jury censured him. In 1896 it worked the Big Vein and Elled seams with 436 men, and by 1908 it was worked together with the Griffin and Lower Deep pits. It closed as a production unit in 1922, when Beynon's Colliery opened to take the remaining coal, although the shafts were not filled until June 1963.

Geology

Steam coal of the Lower and Middle Coal Series of the South Wales coalfield: the Three Quarter, Big Vein and Elled seams, with ironstone from the 'soapy vein' measures.

Geological setting: Sedimentary Beds and Seams (well documented example)

Workings

Two shafts a few yards apart, 165 yards deep and sunk 15 yards below the Three Quarter coal at 178 yards; one was an ironstone pit working the 'soapy vein' measures. Worked with naked lights in 1882. By 1948 an incline ran up to a level on the hillside above.

Closure

Closed as a production unit in 1922, when Beynon's Colliery opened to work the remaining coal of the Blaina pits; the shafts were not filled until June 1963 (Welsh Coal Mines). The Industrial Gwent survey also gives 1922, and a history of Beynon's has Henwain already closed by the time that pit was sunk from 1921.

What remains

Tips remain, and on the hillside above the site the tips and tramway of a later level survive with the frame of at least one dram; buildings at the foot were in use as stables when surveyed.

Tips, a tramway embankment and rail from the later hillside level; little trace of the incline.

Related mines

• Cinder Pit, Blaina — Both Blaina pits of the Nantyglo and Blaina Company, leased to John Lancaster and Co. in 1878.
• North Blaina Colliery — Both worked by the Nantyglo and Blaina Company and then John Lancaster and Co., and both closed when Beynon's Colliery took their remaining coal in the early 1920s.

Nearby mines

• Rose Heyworth Colliery — 1.5 km S
• North Blaina Colliery — 1.6 km N
• Marine Colliery — 1.9 km SE
• Coalbrook Vale Colliery — 2.2 km NW
• Cwmtillery Colliery — 2.2 km SE

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

People

• Crawshay Bailey · owner, from 1857 — With his brother Joseph, as J. and C. Bailey, owned Henwaun in 1857 to feed their ironworks.
• Crawshay Bailey · proprietor, from 1857 — via the operator record Bailey Brothers
• Robert Cruttwell (d. 1858) · partner, to 1858 — Of Cruttwell, Allies and Co., who sank the Henwaun pits in the early 1850s; died 8 August 1858.
• James Hoskins · victim, 1882 — Fireman, 65, killed in the 1882 explosion; the jury found he had let the night men in before examining the workings. NMRS spells him Hawkins.

What's uncertain

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

• The Henwaun Pit was sunk in the early 1850s by Cruttwell, Allies and Co. to 165 yards to the steam coal seams of the Lower and Middle Coal Series, and was owned in 1857 by J. and C. Bailey to feed their ironworks. (disputed) ¹
• Henwaun Colliery was sunk in 1856 to feed the Nantyglo Ironworks, passed to John Lancaster's concern in 1881 and closed in 1922. (disputed) ²
• The 1882 explosion, in the Three Quarter coal at a colliery of J. Lancaster and Company employing about 330, killed six, the NMRS list adding Edmund Harris, 66, labourer. (disputed) ⁴

Recorded claims

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

• The Henwaun Pit was sunk in the early 1850s by Cruttwell, Allies and Co. to 165 yards to the steam coal seams of the Lower and Middle Coal Series, and was owned in 1857 by J. and C. Bailey to feed their ironworks. (disputed) ¹
• Henwaun Colliery was sunk in 1856 to feed the Nantyglo Ironworks, passed to John Lancaster's concern in 1881 and closed in 1922. (disputed) ²
• On 23 August 1855 the rope broke as three men were being brought up for their dinner, and Howell Lewis, John James and Thomas Jones fell about 70 yards to their deaths. ¹
• On 27 February 1882 an explosion at the Henwain Pit killed five: the fireman James Hoskins (65), James Jones (48), John James (42), Thomas Miles (25) and William Bennett (20); the jury blamed the fireman for letting the night men in with naked lights before examining the workings. ^1,3
• The 1882 explosion, in the Three Quarter coal at a colliery of J. Lancaster and Company employing about 330, killed six, the NMRS list adding Edmund Harris, 66, labourer. (disputed) ⁴
• In 1896 it produced coal from the Big Vein and Elled seams with 436 men; it closed as a production unit in 1922 when Beynon's opened, but was not filled until June 1963. ^1,2

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Henwaun Pit Blaina — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (secondary) Blaina, its Industrial Archaeology and History — Industrial Gwent
3. (primary) The Blaina Colliery Disaster: the adjourned inquiry (South Wales Daily News, 8 March 1882) — Welsh Newspapers (National Library of Wales)
4. (secondary) Henwain Colliery Explosion - Blaina - 1882 — Northern Mine Research Society
5. (primary) Blaina Upper Deep, Lower Deep, 3/4 Pit, North Blaina, North Griffin, Henwain Pits and others (Mining Remediation Authority abandonment plan SWR3559, via BGS catalogue item 21844162) — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority

Record created: 19 September 2026 · Last researched: 19 September 2026