Llandebie Colliery

Overview

An anthracite slant driven at Llandybie in 1904, electrified in 1912 to raise three hundred tons a day, and the first colliery absorbed into what became the largest anthracite company in the world. It closed four days before Christmas 1958.

History

The first slant was driven north-west in 1904 by Holmes and Company of Swansea, who probably formed the Llandebie Colliery Company Limited; its commercial manager was Cleeve's and Company of York Chambers, Swansea. In 1908 it employed eighty-nine men underground and twenty at surface under the manager John Williams. Cleeve's acquired the mine in 1912, drove two new slants to fresh reserves to the south west, and electrified the machinery to produce three hundred tons of coal a day; the main haulage could then pull thirteen full trams up the main slant. By 1917 it was owned by Cleeve's Western Valleys Anthracite Company Limited, a member of the Monmouthshire and South Wales Coal Owners Association. The workforce was 302 in 1918 and 393 in 1923, when W. J. Davies was manager and the anthracite came from the Lower Pumpquart and Lower Triquart seams. In 1923 that company became the first to be absorbed into the newly formed Amalgamated Anthracite Collieries Limited, and the colliery stayed with it until nationalisation. It had its own washery by 1932. In the mid-1930s it closed, and it reopened on 9 August 1943. At nationalisation in 1947 Llandebie went into the National Coal Board's South Western Division, No. 1 (Swansea) Area, with seventy-four men at surface and 347 underground on the Lower Pumpquart, and T. Walters as manager. Pithead baths were built in 1950. In 1955, out of 366 employed, 213 were at the coalfaces; in 1956 the figures were 318 and 177. Working mainly the Lower and Upper Pumpquart, Stanllyd and Trichwart seams, the colliery was closed by the National Coal Board on 20 December 1958.

Geology

The colliery worked anthracite in the Llandybie district at the western end of the South Wales coalfield, taking the Lower and Upper Pumpquart, the Lower Triquart, the Stanllyd and the Trichwart seams. The Pumpquart is the seam that runs through this whole corner of the coalfield: Blaenhirwaun's 1955 explosion was on a Lower Pumpquart face a few miles away, and Cynheidre's seam analyses are named for it.

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

Workings

Slants rather than shafts. The first was driven north-west in 1904; Cleeve's drove two more to the south west from 1912 and electrified the plant, the main haulage then pulling thirteen full trams up the main slant. A coal preparation plant — a washery — was working by 1932, and pithead baths were built in 1950.

Closure

Closed by the National Coal Board on 20 December 1958.

What remains

No account of the site as it is now was found in the sources read.

No account of surviving remains was found in the sources read.

Redevelopment

Not established.

Related mines

• Blaenhirwaun Colliery — Two Carmarthenshire anthracite collieries a few miles apart working the same Pumpquart seam, and both held at the end by the National Coal Board's South Western Division.
• Carway Colliery — Both were Carmarthenshire anthracite mines that passed through Amalgamated Anthracite Collieries to the National Coal Board.

Nearby mines

• Caerbryn Colliery — 2.4 km SW
• Emlyn Colliery — 2.4 km SW
• Wernos Colliery — 3.0 km SE
• Ammanford Colliery — 3.2 km SE
• Betws Colliery — 3.2 km SE

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.

• The first slant was driven towards the north west in 1904 by Holmes and Company of Swansea, who possibly formed the Llandebie Colliery Company Limited, whose commercial manager was Cleeve's and Company of York Chambers, Swansea; in 1908 it employed eighty-nine men underground and twenty at surface under the manager John Williams. ¹
• Cleeve's acquired the mine in 1912, drove two new slants to new reserves to the south west and electrified the machinery to produce three hundred tons of coal a day, the main haulage then being capable of hauling thirteen full trams up the main slant. ¹
• Cleeve's Western Valleys Anthracite Company Limited was the first company to be absorbed into the newly formed Amalgamated Anthracite Collieries Limited in 1923, and the colliery remained with it until nationalisation. ¹
• The Lists of Mines give forty-seven employed in 1905, 105 in 1910, 392 in 1923, 409 in 1933 and 1937 and 476 in 1940. Welsh Coal Mines gives 302 in 1918, 526 in 1938 and 429 in 1945, and the colliery worked the Lower and Upper Pumpquart, Lower Triquart, Stanllyd and Trichwart seams. ^1,2
• At nationalisation in 1947 the colliery was placed in the National Coal Board's South Western Division, No. 1 (Swansea) Area, employing seventy-four men on the surface and 347 underground on the Lower Pumpquart seam and producing 70,000 tons; pithead baths were erected in 1950, and in 1955, of 366 employed, 213 worked at the coalfaces. ^1,2
• The colliery was closed by the National Coal Board on 20 December 1958. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Llandybie Colliery — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (secondary) Llandebie Colliery — Durham Mining Museum

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