Merthyr Dare Colliery

Overview

A Cwmdare colliery sunk before 1851, closed and largely demolished by 1900, then surprisingly resuscitated around 1906 with a new winder house before finally closing for good in the late 1940s.

History

Merthyr Dare Colliery was sunk at Cwmdare, some 2km west of Aberdare, before 1851. Early ownership passed through Rhys and Richards (by 1867), Rhys and Company (by 1870), and the Bwllfa and Merthyr Dare Colliery Company Limited (by 1878) -- the same combined concern that took over the neighbouring Bwllfa Colliery from 1876. The colliery closed in 1884, and most of its buildings had already been demolished by the time of the 1900 Ordnance Survey 25-inch map. Unusually, the site was resuscitated around 1906, with a new winder house built, and by 1917 was owned by the Bwllfa and Merthyr Dare Steam Collieries (1891) Limited; the 1919 OS map shows it back in operation. By 1948 the mine was again recorded as disused, and the whole site was finally demolished and landscaped in the early 1970s, forming part of what is now Dare Valley Country Park.

Workings

No reliable detail on the colliery's own specific underground workings has yet been located, beyond the construction of a new winder house during its c.1906 resuscitation.

Closure

Closed in 1884, largely demolished by 1900, then resuscitated around 1906 and operating again by 1919; disused again by 1948, with the site finally demolished and landscaped in the early 1970s into Dare Valley Country Park.

What remains

Demolished and landscaped in the early 1970s; the site now forms part of Dare Valley Country Park.

No original colliery structures survive; the site is now parkland.

Abandoned workings can be dangerous — unstable ground, uncapped shafts, flooding and bad air are common even where a site looks safe from the surface. This entry describes history and general location only; it is not an access guide.

Recorded claims

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

• Merthyr Dare Colliery was sunk before 1851; early owners included Rhys and Richards (by 1867), Rhys and Company (by 1870) and the Bwllfa and Merthyr Dare Colliery Company Limited (by 1878). ¹
• The colliery closed in 1884 and was largely demolished by 1900, but was resuscitated around 1906 with a new winder house, operating again by 1919 before final closure and demolition in the early 1970s into Dare Valley Country Park. ²

Photographs & further reading

This page doesn't try to reproduce everything — these are the best original sources found for this mine.

Sources

1. (secondary) Merthyr Dare Colliery — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Dare Valley Country Park — Wikipedia

Record created: 1 September 2026 · Last researched: 1 September 2026