Manmoel Colliery

Overview

Levels near Manmoel on Sir Henry Protheroe's estate, opened in the early 1800s, worked by Benjamin Hall and Sir Thomas Phillips and Co., and on the Mynyddislwyn seam until 1949.

History

Manmoel Colliery was a group of levels near Manmoel, on the Hafod-yr-Isclawdd estate of Sir Henry Protheroe of Bristol, sheriff of that city in 1802 and 1807. It opened in the early 1800s; ruined buildings nearby are named on old maps as 'Rank Sir Henry'. About 1810 Benjamin Hall, son-in-law of Richard Crawshay of Cyfarthfa, bought the colliery, and in 1812 the tramroad Protheroe had begun was extended from the Carn Brook to serve it.

It later came under Sir Thomas Phillips and Company. The 1842 Royal Commission report recorded the Court-y-Bella and 'Mammoo' collieries of Sir Thomas Phillips and Co. employing 90 adults, 30 under eighteen and 10 under thirteen, the coal brought through the levels by horses and down an inclined plane to the tramroad; boys of seven to thirteen described working twelve-hour days underground.

By 1896 C. Pond owned it, with 22 men working the Mynyddislwyn seam, and in the 1890s he linked it underground with a new adit from his Pen-y-fan colliery. The Mynyddislwyn workings at Manmoel were abandoned on 30 November 1949.

Geology

South Wales Coal Measures. The levels worked the Mynyddislwyn seam.

Workings

Levels (adits) at several points on the hillside (Welsh Coal Mines gives three grid references, from SO184008 northward), with coal hauled by horses and lowered by inclined plane to the tramroad; in the 1890s linked underground with a Pen-y-fan adit.

Closure

The Mynyddislwyn seam workings at Manmoel were abandoned on 30 November 1949.

What remains

The No. 1 level was photographed in 2013.

Ruined buildings nearby are named on old maps as 'Rank Sir Henry'.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Cwrt-y-bella Colliery — Occupied by Sir Thomas Phillips and Co. with Manmoel and returned with it in 1842.
• Pen-y-fan Colliery — C. Pond linked a new Pen-y-fan adit underground with Manmoel in the 1890s.

Recorded claims

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

• Sir Henry Protheroe of Bristol owned the Hafod-yr-Isclawdd estate, on which stood the Manmoel colliery, opened in the early 1800s; Benjamin Hall bought it around 1810. ¹
• In 1812 a tramroad, originally planned by Sir Henry Protheroe, was extended from the Carn Brook to serve the collieries. ¹
• The 1842 Royal Commission recorded the Court-y-Bella and Mammoo collieries, occupied by Sir Thomas Phillips and Co., employing 90 adults, 30 under 18 and 10 under 13. ¹
• In 1896 22 men were employed at Manmoel producing from the Mynyddislwyn seam; C. Pond was the owner. ¹
• In the 1890s C. Pond drove a new adit about a mile north of Pen-y-fan Uchaf and linked it underground with his Manmoel colliery. ²
• The Manmoel Mynyddislwyn workings were abandoned on 30 November 1949. ³
• A plan of the Manmoel Level in the Mynyddislwyn seam is catalogued. ⁴

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Manmoel - Welsh Coal Mines — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (secondary) Penyfan-Gwrhay - Welsh Coal Mines — Welsh Coal Mines
3. (primary) BGS mine plans: Manmoel (Mynyddislwyn, abandoned 30 Nov 1949) — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority
4. (primary) BGS mine plans: Manmoel Level (Mynyddislwyn) — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority

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