Maritime Colliery

Overview

A Pontypridd colliery with an unlucky history. It was sunk in 1841 by John Edmunds as a water balance pit, reaching the No. 3 Rhondda seam at only 60 yards, and was called the Pontypridd Colliery before 1880. It sat where the seams are very faulty, and three or four successive proprietaries lost heavily trying to work it; a winding-up order came in 1893 and the pit lay idle for a year. The Great Western Colliery Company bought it in 1894 — not to work the shaft, but to extend its own workings into the ground. Powell Duffryn took it in 1930, an underground link to Cwm opened in 1932, and the National Coal Board closed it in June 1961.

History

Situated at Maesycoed near Pontypridd, the colliery was originally a water balance pit, sunk in 1841 by John Edmunds to the No. 3 Rhondda seam at a depth of 60 yards. The oval shaft was divided into two sections for upcast and downcast, and ventilation was by furnace. Before 1880 it was called the Pontypridd Colliery, and in the newspapers of the period it also appears as the Marine Rhondda Colliery and as Fowler’s Pit. In November 1878 the Monmouthshire Merlin reported a great find of coal at the mine: a seam struck at 310 yards, supposed to be the celebrated four-foot vein worked for so many years at Aberdare, six feet thick and steam coal. It never made its owners rich. The Pontypridd Chronicle, reporting the sale of the pit in 1893, wrote that "the Maritime property has had a singularly unfortunate history, being situated at a point where the coal seams are very faulty and three or four successive proprietaries have lost heavily in their attempt to work the coal". A winding-up order was issued for the Maritime Coal Company in March 1893 and the pit lay idle for nearly a year until the Great Western Colliery Company bought it in 1894, adding about 500 acres. The Great Western did not work the Maritime pit itself but extended its own workings into the ground to reach the best of the minerals, including a large quantity of No. 3 Rhondda. The colliery employed 466 men in the year of the sale, 956 by 1918 and 1,286 in 1923, when it was working the Four Feet seam. Powell Duffryn became the owners in 1930, and on 1 April 1932 an underground link to Cwm Colliery was completed — a drivage of 1,086 yards — after which much of the Maritime’s coal was raised through Cwm. Employment was 661 in 1938 and 393 in 1945.

Geology

The South Wales coalfield at Pontypridd, on notably faulty ground. The No. 3 Rhondda seam was reached at 60 yards in 1841; a four-foot steam coal six feet thick was struck at 310 yards in 1878. At closure the colliery was working two coking coal seams, the Six Feet and the Upper Four Feet.

Workings

Originally a water balance pit with an oval shaft divided into upcast and downcast sections, ventilated by furnace. From 1 April 1932 an underground drivage of 1,086 yards connected the workings to Cwm Colliery, and much of the coal was thereafter raised at Cwm.

Closure

The National Coal Board closed the colliery in June 1961, when it was producing around 150,000 tons a year with a workforce of about 400 from the Six Feet and Upper Four Feet seams. Pumping continued at the site for many years afterwards. The closure probably coincided with the completion of the £9 million reconstruction of 1952-60 that linked Cwm and Coedely and built a new coal preparation plant at Cwm; the same two seams were worked at Cwm.

What remains

No description of the present-day site has been established from the sources read.

No surviving structure has been identified.

Related mines

• Cwm Colliery — Joined underground from 1932: a 1,086-yard drivage completed on 1 April that year linked the Maritime with Cwm, and much of the Maritime’s coal was raised through Cwm thereafter. Its closure in 1961 probably coincided with the £9 million Cwm-Coedely reconstruction, which worked the same Six Feet and Upper Four Feet seams.
• Great Western Colliery — Bought but deliberately not worked: the Great Western Colliery Company purchased the Maritime in 1894, adding some 500 acres, and rather than reopening the Maritime pit extended its own workings into the ground to reach the best of the coal.

Nearby mines

• Great Western Colliery — 1.5 km NW
• Lewis Merthyr Colliery — 3.2 km W
• Albion Colliery — 3.4 km NE
• Cymmer Colliery — 4.2 km W
• Abercynon Colliery — 4.5 km N

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.

• Originally a water balance pit, the colliery was sunk in 1841 by John Edmunds to the No. 3 Rhondda seam at a depth of 60 yards. The oval shaft was divided into two sections for the upcast and downcast, and ventilation was by furnace. ¹
• Prior to 1880 the colliery was called the Pontypridd Colliery; contemporary newspapers also refer to it as the Marine Rhondda Colliery and as Fowler’s Pit. ¹
• The Monmouthshire Merlin of 29 November 1878 reported a great find of coal at the mine: a seam struck at 310 yards from the surface, supposed to be the celebrated four-foot vein worked for many years at Aberdare, six feet thick and steam coal. ¹
• The Pontypridd Chronicle of 2 June 1893 reported that "the Maritime property has had a singularly unfortunate history, being situated at a point where the coal seams are very faulty and three or four successive proprietaries have lost heavily in their attempt to work the coal". ¹
• The Great Western Colliery Company purchased the Maritime in 1894 after it had lain idle for nearly twelve months, adding about 500 acres. It was understood that the company would not work the Maritime pit itself but would extend its own workings into the Maritime area to reach the best of the minerals, including a large quantity of No. 3 Rhondda. ¹
• Powell Duffryn became the owners in 1930, and an underground link to Cwm Colliery was opened on 1 April 1932 when a 1,086-yard drivage was completed. Much of the Maritime’s coal was thereafter raised through Cwm. ¹
• The National Coal Board closed the colliery in June 1961, when it produced around 150,000 tons a year with a workforce of about 400, working the Six Feet and Upper Four Feet coking coal seams. Pumping continued there for many years afterwards. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Maritime Colliery — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (secondary) Great Western Colliery — Wikipedia

Record created: 8 September 2026 · Last researched: 8 September 2026