Morfa Colliery

Overview

Vivian and Sons' colliery at Taibach, sunk in the 1840s to feed their copper smelter and worked until October 1913. It was a famously gassy pit and killed 168 men and boys in six accidents, including 87 in a single morning in 1890. The men called it the pit of ghosts.

History

Vivian and Sons opened Morfa in the 1840s — the official returns give 1847 and Welsh Coal Mines 1849 — to supply their copper smelting works at Taibach, which they also owned. It had two pits, Abbot and Grange, and worked the Cribbwr and Four Feet seams for coking, household and manufacturing coal. Employment ran from 315 in 1894 to 386 in 1900 and down to 199 by 1910.

The colliery's reputation was made by its explosions. Six men died in an explosion of gas on 11 December 1850. Four more in November 1858, when a safety lamp had been opened underground (see Disasters, below). Forty died on 17 October 1863 (see Disasters, below). On 14 February 1870 an explosion while the shaft was being deepened killed about thirty (see Disasters, below).

The worst came on the morning of 10 March 1890, when an explosion killed 87 men and boys (see Disasters, below).

Morfa closed in October 1913.

Geology

The Cribbwr and Four Feet seams of the western South Wales coalfield. The pit was well known to be very gassy, which is the thread running through its whole history.

Workings

Two pits, Abbot and Grange, the latter at SS775864. Between two thirds and three quarters of the workforce was below ground. The shaft was being deepened in February 1870 when blasting powder ignited and killed thirty of the men at work on it.

Closure

The colliery closed in October 1913, after sixty-four years of production.

What remains

Nothing of the colliery stands. Its memorial is in the heart of the Tata steelworks site at Port Talbot and commemorates the 168 lives lost in six mining accidents during the colliery's sixty-four years of production.

The memorial inside the steelworks site.

Related mines

• Brombil Colliery — Both supplied Vivian & Sons' Margam copper works at Taibach.

Disasters & major incidents

• Morfa Colliery explosion
  11 December 1850 · Explosion · 6 fatalities
  An explosion of gas at Vivian and Son's Morfa pit near Taibach on 11 December 1850 injured around 30 men and eventually killed six, the earliest of the four disasters recorded at Morfa Colliery.
• Morfa Colliery explosion, 1858
  26 November 1858 · Explosion · 4 fatalities
  An explosion of gas at Morfa Colliery, Taibach, on 25 or 26 November 1858 killed four colliers. Afterwards one man's safety lamp was found with its top off and a homemade key to its lock in his pocket, and none of the lamps was locked, though all had been locked when the shift began. Opening a lamp saved the walk to the lamp room to relight it.
• Morfa Colliery explosion, 1863
  17 October 1863 · Explosion · 40 fatalities
  Shortly after 10 a.m. on Saturday 17 October 1863 firedamp exploded in the western workings of Morfa Colliery at Taibach, killing about forty of the forty-three men and boys in the affected heading, most by chokedamp. Heavy falls delayed the recovery until the end of November. The Inspector thought gas had gathered in the goaf after falls disturbed the ventilation, but could not say how it fired; in the weeks before, the men had reported ghostly omens.
• Morfa Colliery explosion, 1870
  14 February 1870 · Explosion · 29 fatalities
  Between six and seven on the morning of 14 February 1870, when 50 or 60 men had gone down Morfa Colliery at Taibach, a terrific explosion near the bottom of the working shaft wrecked the shaft and headgear and killed twenty-nine men and boys. Blasting powder for deepening the shaft was stored there, and the manager blamed it; the jury found firedamp; the Inspector traced the gas to a goaf that had been sealed off months before.
• Morfa Colliery explosion, 1890
  10 March 1890 · Explosion · 87 fatalities
  Early on Tuesday 10 March 1890 an explosion tore through Morfa Colliery at Taibach, Port Talbot, a pit long known as gassy and as the pit of ghosts. Of about 250 men and boys below, some 100 walked out unaided; 87 died, including the manager William Barras and a rescuer, Daniel Brownsell. Five boys climbed out over a roof fall the next morning, and John Franks was found alive twelve hours further in. The jury found that shot firing had ignited a body of gas.

Culture

• The Pit of Ghosts: Morfa Colliery (Folklore)
  The tradition is this colliery's own: the sightings, the red dog and the 1895 walk-out were all at Morfa.

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 official returns date the colliery's opening to 1847 and its closure to October 1913, with Abbot Pit and Grange Pit, Vivian and Sons as owner, coking, household and manufacturing coal from the Cribbwr and Four Feet seams, and employment of 315 in 1894, 325 in 1896, 386 in 1900, 320 in 1905 and 199 in 1910. (disputed) ²

Recorded claims

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

• Vivian and Sons opened the colliery sometime in 1849, and its produce fed the nearby copper smelter works at Taibach, which was also owned by Vivian and Sons. ¹
• The official returns date the colliery's opening to 1847 and its closure to October 1913, with Abbot Pit and Grange Pit, Vivian and Sons as owner, coking, household and manufacturing coal from the Cribbwr and Four Feet seams, and employment of 315 in 1894, 325 in 1896, 386 in 1900, 320 in 1905 and 199 in 1910. (disputed) ²
• The memorial, in the heart of the Tata steelworks site at Port Talbot, commemorates the 168 lives lost in six mining accidents during the colliery's sixty-four years of production. ³
• Reports of strange happenings and ghostly sightings were commonplace at this colliery, and in the weeks before the 1863 explosion they became more frequent; it was commonly believed among the workforce that they were harbingers of disaster. Afterwards they grew rarer except for one apparition of a dog which appeared out of nowhere and vanished again, called the red dog of Morfa. The colliery became known throughout the coalfield as the pit of ghosts. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Morfa Colliery Port Talbot — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (primary) Morfa Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
3. (observational) Morfa Colliery Memorial (Geograph 7912305) — Geograph

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