Lower Varteg Colliery

Overview

A pit and slope at Garndiffaith, near Varteg, begun in 1898 by Thomas Deakin and Henry Jayne, whose 1899 slope, Deakin's Slope, became the main working. Run by the Varteg Deep Black Vein company and then John Vipond and Company, it employed up to 600 men and stopped production in January 1957; its restored 1899 adit survives.

History

Lower Varteg Colliery, at Garndiffaith in the Cwm Ffrwd valley below Varteg, was begun in 1898, when the first sods were cut for Thomas Deakin and Henry Jayne. A pit was sunk first, and the slope, whose keystone is dated 1899, followed. Its main haulage road, started in 1899, drifted down at 1 in 10 to the Bottom Vein ironstone mine, then rose at 1 in 70 through the Old Coal to the Meadow Vein, and ran on along the Meadow Vein to the Varteg Hill pits, which became its upcast shaft; a 160-horsepower surface haulage engine could bring out 500 tons a shift. In 1899 Jayne and Deakin employed 305 men, and in 1900 the Lower Varteg Colliery Company had 373 underground and 38 at the surface under T. Smith.

In 1901 Thomas Hedges Deakin formed the Varteg Deep Black Vein Collieries Limited, and the colliery was also called Varteg Deep. In July 1902 the men stopped work for some days over an alteration to the coal screens, and in 1906 the hauliers at the New Slope met to hand the miners' agent James Winstone full powers over their pay. By 1908 a No. 10 slope had been opened, and the two employed 395 men, working the Rock, Yard, Meadow Vein and Old Coal seams. The take was bounded by faulted ground to the west and by waterlogged old workings on every other side. The pit closed around 1915, and in 1918 Deakin's and the No. 10 slope employed 553 men under A. K. Edmunds. In 1923 they had 533 men raising steam coal, ironstone and clay.

In 1925 the Deep Black Vein company was dissolved and John Vipond and Company, with T. H. Deakin as chairman, took the mines over; in 1935 Deakin's and the No. 10 slope together employed 515 men. At nationalisation in 1947 the National Coal Board placed the colliery in its No. 6 (Monmouthshire) Area with 549 men working the Garw, Four-Feet, Yard, Seven-Feet and Two-Feet-Nine seams, and in 1949 it produced 116,000 tons. By 1956 its workable reserves were exhausted. Closure was authorised on 10 June 1956, production ceased on 26 January 1957 and the closure was completed on 23 May 1959; most of the men went to Big Pit, others to Blaenserchan, Tirpentwys and the Red Ash level. The site has been landscaped, but the 1899 adit has been restored, with a couple of drams in front of it.

Geology

Steam coals and ironstone of the Lower Coal Measures: the Rock, Yard, Meadow Vein, Old Coal and Three-Quarters seams, later the Garw, Four-Feet, Seven-Feet and Two-Feet-Nine, with the Bottom Vein ironstone. Faulted ground to the west.

Workings

A pit sunk from 1898 and closed around 1915, and Deakin's Slope of 1899 (dipping 1 in 10, then rising 1 in 70 to the Meadow Vein) with a 160 hp surface haulage; the No. 10 slope by 1908; upcast through the Varteg Hill pits.

Closure

Reserves exhausted by 1956; closure authorised 10 June 1956, production ceased 26 January 1957 and closure completed 23 May 1959.

What remains

The site has been landscaped, but the 1899 adit has been restored with drams in front of it.

The restored 1899 slope adit, and a filled-in girder bridge over the old colliery branch line.

Redevelopment

Landscaped.

Related mines

• Varteg Hill Colliery — The Varteg Hill pits served as Lower Varteg's upcast; both John Vipond and Company's from 1925, merged by the Coal Board in 1947.
• Varteg Red Ash Level — Both opened by the Varteg Deep Black Vein company and later Vipond's; men transferred to the Red Ash level at closure.

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 slope closed on 1 January 1957. (disputed) ¹
• Production ceased on 26 January 1957 and closure was completed on 23 May 1959. (disputed) ²

Recorded claims

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

• The first sods were cut in 1898 for Thomas Deakin and Henry Jayne; the slope's keystone is dated 1899. ^1,2
• The main haulage road, begun in 1899, ran down to the Bottom Vein ironstone and up to the Meadow Vein, connecting with the Varteg Hill pits as upcast. ²
• In 1918 Deakin's and the No. 10 slope employed 553 men. ^1,2
• John Vipond and Company took the mines over from the Varteg Deep Black Vein company. ^1,2
• Production ceased in January 1957. ^1,2,3
• The slope closed on 1 January 1957. (disputed) ¹
• Production ceased on 26 January 1957 and closure was completed on 23 May 1959. (disputed) ²
• The 1899 adit has been restored with drams in front of it. ³

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Welsh Coal Mines: Lower Varteg Slope (Deakin's) — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (secondary) NMRS: Deakin's Slope (Lower Varteg Colliery) — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (secondary) Coflein: Lower Varteg Colliery (NPRN 422093) — Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales
4. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: DEAKINS SLOPE MINE SLOPE MINE PIT STABLE HOUSES WATERCOURSE (Yard/Seven Feet (Meadow), abandoned 1948) — British Geological Survey
5. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: VARTEG COLLIERY LOWER VARTEG ELLED PITS SELBYS PIT DEAKINS SLOPE NO 10 SLOPE (Silk Vein) — British Geological Survey
6. (primary) Evening Express, 15 July 1902: Dispute at Varteg — Welsh Newspapers Online (National Library of Wales)
7. (primary) Evening Express, 19 July 1905: Councillor injured at Lower Varteg — Welsh Newspapers Online (National Library of Wales)
8. (primary) The Cardiff Times, 14 July 1906: Lower Varteg hauliers — Welsh Newspapers Online (National Library of Wales)
9. (secondary) 1915 fatalities — Welsh Coal Mines
10. (secondary) 1918 (Welsh mining fatalities by date) — Welsh Coal Mines
11. (secondary) Fatalities 1900 — Welsh Coal Mines
12. (secondary) Welsh mining fatalities, 1899 — Welsh Coal Mines

Record created: 11 October 2026 · Last researched: 11 October 2026