Naval Colliery

Overview

A four-pit Rhondda complex whose original Pandy shaft, sunk as Pen-y-Craig Colliery in the 1870s, was the site of two of Wales's worst mining explosions within four years of each other — first killing 101, then 12 more.

History

The colliery that became known as Naval began as Pen-y-Craig (or Penygraig) Colliery, sunk by Moses Rowlands, the major shareholder in the Penygraig Coal Company, who started sinking the Pandy pit to the Pentre seam in 1875, completing it by 1879 under the ownership of Messrs Morgan and Rowlands of Pontypridd. The colliery suffered two devastating explosions in its early years: on 10 December 1880, an explosion killed 101 men and boys (one inspector's report cites 110), caused, a joint inquest found, by a roof fall releasing gas that then ignited from a lamp; the colliery's manager, Moses Rowlands, was strongly condemned by the jury for breaches of safety rules. A second explosion, on 27 January 1884, killed a further 12 — 11 in the blast itself and one more, Daniel Thomas, from suffocation during the rescue attempt — caused by a shot fired by a fireman igniting gas (see Disasters, below, for both).

The wider Naval complex grew from this original site: the Ely (No. 2, later renumbered No. 1) pit at Penygraig was sunk by the New Naval Collieries Co. Ltd in 1880 as the upcast shaft, followed by Nantgwyn (No. 3) in 1892 and Anthony (No. 4) at Tonypandy in 1908. Employment grew from around 1,855 in 1896 to a peak of 3,017 across three pits by 1923. Naval became part of the Cambrian Combine Company in 1908 and later passed to Powell Duffryn Ltd. A cage accident at the Ely pit in 1909 killed five (see Disasters, below). By 1945 only the Anthony and Pandy pits remained in production, employing 578 men; the whole complex closed in 1958.

Geology

Coal of the South Wales field at Penygraig in the Rhondda; the seams worked are not recorded.

Workings

Worked from four linked pits — Pandy (from 1875-79), Ely (from 1880, upcast shaft), Nantgwyn (from 1892) and Anthony (from 1908) — drawing coal from the New Pentre, Pentre, Nine Feet, Bute, Six and Four seams.

Closure

The whole complex closed in 1958, having narrowed to just the Anthony and Pandy pits by 1945.

What remains

Unknown.

Related mines

• Cambrian Colliery — Both belonged to the Cambrian Combine and were shut down together at the start of the 1910-11 Cambrian Combine dispute, one of the most significant industrial disputes in Welsh history.
• Glamorgan Colliery — Another of the Cambrian Combine's mid-Rhondda pits and part of the same 1910 dispute, the combine-wide quarrel that put the Glamorgan men outside their own gates.

Disasters & major incidents

• Naval (Pen-y-Craig) Colliery explosion, 1880
  10 December 1880 · Explosion · 101 fatalities
  An explosion at Pen-y-Craig Colliery (also called Naval Steam Colliery), Penygraig, on 10 December 1880 killed 101 men and boys, one of the worst disasters of the Rhondda coalfield's early expansion; a joint inquest strongly condemned the colliery's manager, Moses Rowlands, for breaches of safety rules.
• Naval Colliery explosion, 1884
  27 January 1884 · Explosion · 12 fatalities
  A second explosion at the same Penygraig pit that had killed 101 men in 1880 struck on 27 January 1884, killing 12 — 11 in the blast itself and a twelfth, Daniel Thomas, who died later from suffocation sustained during the rescue attempt.
• Naval Colliery shaft accident, 1893
  14 December 1893 · Winding / Shaft Accident · 3 fatalities
  A cage carrying men to clear a fouled rope in the Naval Colliery shaft at Penygraig struck the obstruction and overturned on 14 December 1893; three or four men were killed.
• Naval Colliery roof fall, 1903
  October 1903 · Collapse / Roof Fall · 2 fatalities
  Two roadmen were killed in the Ely Pit of Naval Colliery, Penygraig, in October 1903 when a rotten framing collar broke over a main heading and the roof fell on them.
• Naval Colliery Ely Pit cage accident, 1909
  1909 · Winding / Shaft Accident · 5 fatalities
  On the morning of 27 August 1909 a double-deck cage carrying 26 men down the Ely Pit of the Naval Colliery at Penygraig ran out of control when the reversing gear of the winding engine broke. It crashed into the sump, the ascending cage was pulled into the headgear, and the rope fell 525 yards down the shaft onto the wrecked cage.

Recorded claims

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

• The Pandy pit, sunk by Moses Rowlands to the Pentre seam from 1875 and completed by 1879 under Messrs Morgan and Rowlands of Pontypridd, was originally known as Pen-y-Craig Colliery, also called Naval Steam Colliery. ¹
• The Ely pit was sunk by the New Naval Collieries Co. Ltd in 1880 as the upcast shaft, followed by Nantgwyn in 1892 and Anthony, at Tonypandy, in 1908. ²
• Employment grew from around 1,855 in 1896 to a peak of 3,017 across three pits by 1923. ²
• Naval became part of the Cambrian Combine Company in 1908 and later passed to Powell Duffryn Ltd. ²
• By 1945 only the Anthony and Pandy pits remained in production, employing 578 men; the whole complex closed in 1958. ²

Sources

1. (secondary) Pen-Y-Craig Colliery Explosion - Rhondda - 1880 — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Naval Colliery Penygraig — welshcoalmines.co.uk

Record created: 27 August 2026 · Last researched: 27 August 2026