Lan Colliery

Overview

The Pentyrch ironworks' colliery at Gwaelod-y-garth, worked since the 18th century and extended as New Lan in 1872, where an explosion in the Brass Vein killed sixteen in December 1875.

History

Lan (or Llan) Colliery, at Gwaelod-y-garth near Pentyrch, supplied coal from the Black, Forked and Wing Veins, the Hard Vein and the Brass Vein to the neighbouring Pentyrch Iron Works and to Melingriffith. Coal had been worked there in a small way since the 18th century, and by 1838-40 it was a substantial concern. In 1872, under T. W. Booker and Co. Ltd, it was extended as the New Lan colliery, a drift running 700 yards into the mountain at a slope of thirty degrees.

On the snowy morning of 6 December 1875 an explosion in the Brass Vein killed twelve men and boys, and four more died within a fortnight (see Disasters, below).

The colliery shared the fortunes of the ironworks. In 1879 the West of England Bank failed, taking the Booker company with it; the ironworks closed and the property was sold in 1888. By 1896 Messrs Owens and Watkins worked it with five men for manufacturing coal and fireclay for the Pentyrch Brickworks, and in 1908 Evan Owens and Co. Ltd employed 19. By the First World War its rails had been lifted.

Geology

South Wales Coal Measures: the Black, Forked, Wing, Hard and Brass (Bras) Veins, with fireclay.

Workings

Levels and, from 1872, the New Lan drift, 700 yards into the mountain at thirty degrees, intersecting the seams; ventilated by fans blowing air down the incline. A 1903 plan shows a fault of 13 yards' throw.

Closure

Worked on a small scale for the Pentyrch Brickworks after 1896; by the start of the First World War its rails had been lifted.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Disasters & major incidents

• Lan Colliery explosion, 1875
  6 December 1875 · Explosion · 16 fatalities
  At about half past nine on 6 December 1875 firedamp exploded in the Brass Vein workings of T. W. Booker and Co.'s Lan Colliery at Gwaelod-y-garth, near Pentyrch, killing twelve men and boys outright; four more died within a fortnight.

Recorded claims

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

• The mine supplied coal from the Black, Forked and Wing Veins, the Hard Vein and the Brass Vein to the adjacent Pentyrch Iron Works and the Melingriffith Works. ¹
• Worked on a small scale since the 18th century, it was extended as the New Lan colliery in 1872 under T. W. Booker and Co. Ltd. ¹
• The Hard, Bras and Forked Vein coals were reached by a drift running 700 yards into the mountain at thirty degrees; the pit employed 300 men and boys. ²
• In 1896 Owens and Watkins of the Pentyrch Brickworks worked it with 5 men; in 1908 Evan Owens and Co. Ltd employed 19. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Lan Colliery - Welsh Coal Mines — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (secondary) Llan Colliery Explosion - Cardiff - 1875 - Northern Mine Research Society — Northern Mine Research Society

Record created: 1 October 2026 · Last researched: 2 October 2026