Nantmelyn Colliery

Overview

A Cwmdare colliery sunk by Mordecai Jones in 1856, run to liquidation by 1895, then reopened and renamed Bwllfa No. 2 -- growing to employ over a thousand men before closure in 1957.

History

Nantmelyn Colliery's shaft began sinking in 1856 under Mordecai Jones, and the mine was worked by the Aberdare Merthyr Colliery Company until that company went into liquidation in 1895. It was reopened in 1898 by the Bwllfa and Merthyr Dare Steam Coal Company, which renamed it Bwllfa No. 2 Colliery, folding it into the same numbered-pit system as the neighbouring Bwllfa Colliery (Bwllfa No. 1). Under its new name the colliery grew substantially: in 1907-08 it employed 557 men underground and 100 on the surface under manager E. Pugh, rising to 657 by 1909-11; by 1913 the wider operation, including the Brickyard, Gorllwyn and New Drifts workings, employed 973 men, and by 1916 1,090. The colliery finally closed in 1957, when coal extraction ceased across the wider Dare valley, and the site was demolished and landscaped in the early 1970s, becoming part of Dare Valley Country Park.

Workings

Renamed Bwllfa No. 2 Colliery after its 1898 reopening; by 1916 the wider operation (including the Brickyard, Gorllwyn and New Drifts workings) employed 1,090 men.

Closure

Closed in 1957 when coal extraction ceased across the Dare valley; the site was 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.

• Nantmelyn Colliery's shaft was sunk from 1856 by Mordecai Jones and worked by the Aberdare Merthyr Colliery Company until its 1895 liquidation; it was reopened in 1898 by the Bwllfa and Merthyr Dare Steam Coal Company, which renamed it Bwllfa No. 2 Colliery. ¹
• Employment grew from 557 underground and 100 surface workers in 1907-08 to 1,090 men across the wider operation (including the Brickyard, Gorllwyn and New Drifts workings) by 1916. 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) Cwmdare — Wikipedia
2. (secondary) Nantmelyn Colliery, Aberdare — Loquis

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