Newlands Colliery

Overview

A Pyle drift and slant colliery opened in 1918 by Cribbwr Fawr Collieries Ltd, working coking coals to the Gellideg seam at 759 ft 7 in; it employed 800 in 1935 and closed on 22 March 1968.

History

Newlands Colliery stood at Pyle, near Bridgend, and was opened in 1918 by the Cribbwr Fawr Collieries Ltd of Salisbury House, 45 Wind Street, Swansea, which worked it along with Cribbwr Fawr Colliery. The Northern Mine Research Society describes it as a drift driven into the Upper Nine Feet seam, about two miles south-west of Aberbaiden Colliery, and records that it eventually reached down to the Gellideg seam at 759 ft 7 in; Welsh Coal Mines describes slants working seams under Margam Bay, with a pit 253 yards deep as well.

The ground held 18 main seams totalling 97.5 ft of coal in 1,200 ft of strata. The normally thin Gellideg seam, called the Cribbwr Fawr at this colliery, averaged nine feet instead of two, and the Upper Nine Feet, called the South Fawr, was extensively worked at 10 to 13 ft. The coals were classed as type 301B prime coking coals, for foundry or blast-furnace coke.

Manpower was 353 in 1923, 611 in 1924, 900 with Cribbwr Fawr in 1925 and 800 in 1935, when 100 worked on the surface and 700 underground and output was 170,000 tons under the manager James Lewis. It stood at 873 in 1937, 637 in 1945 and 625 in 1947, when the National Coal Board took over and the manager was G. Jenkins. Output in 1954 was 149,000 tons, and the colliery had its own washery. Four deaths are recorded: G. L. Rees, 20, in a conveyor accident on 2 November 1927; Edward Look, 46, and John Evans, 44, in roof falls on 4 July and 9 August 1928; and the collier's boy Brinley Yewer, 15, in a roof fall on 2 July 1936.

In 1944 a heavy fall trapped two colliers. The under-manager, William Jenkins, led the rescue after a morning shift and 22 hours underground; further falls trapped and injured him, and he went back to bring out both men by 4 a.m. He was awarded the Edward Medal in Silver, presented on 27 November 1944, and a repairer received the British Empire Medal.

The National Coal Board drove a new upcast shaft in 1951, though water problems continued. The opening of Margam Steelworks drew men away, thirty leaving in one week in 1956. The Board closed Newlands on 22 March 1968; of the 337 men remaining, 180 moved to Garw, Ffaldau and St John's collieries, 40 stayed on salvage work and the rest were made redundant.

Geology

Between the Gellideg and Two-Feet-Nine seams lay 18 main seams totalling 97.5 ft of coal in 1,200 ft of strata, averaging 5 ft 5 in thick and 75 ft apart. The Gellideg, normally about two feet thick, averaged nine feet here and was called the Cribbwr Fawr, worked at 8 ft 10 in to 9 ft 3 in. The Upper Five Feet seam, called the Nine Feet, reached 12 ft 5 in; the Yard, called the Six Feet, was 54 in; the Upper Nine Feet, called the South Fawr, was 10 to 13 ft; the Red Vein, called the North Fawr, 46 to 52 in; and a small area of the Caerau, called the Cae Garw, 60 to 72 in. The coals were type 301B prime coking coals.

Workings

A drift into the Upper Nine Feet seam driven in 1918, described elsewhere as slants with a pit 253 yards deep, working with Cribbwr Fawr Colliery. In the 1930s to 1950s the Slatog, Caegarw, North Fawr, South Fawr and Six Feet seams were worked; 18 main seams lay in the ground. The colliery had its own coal preparation plant. The National Coal Board drove a new upcast shaft in 1951, and water was a continual problem.

Closure

The National Coal Board closed the colliery on 22 March 1968. The opening of Margam Steelworks had drawn men away, thirty leaving in one week in 1956, and recruitment failed to fill the gaps. Of the 337 men remaining, 180 were transferred to Garw, Ffaldau and St John's collieries, 40 stayed on salvage work and the rest were made redundant.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Cribbwr Fawr Colliery — Newlands was opened in 1918 by the Cribbwr Fawr company and worked along with Cribbwr Fawr Colliery; its abandonment plans are titled for both.

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 colliery was a drift driven into the Upper Nine Feet seam. (disputed) ¹
• The colliery consisted of slants and a pit 253 yards deep, working seams under Margam Bay. (disputed) ²

Recorded claims

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

• Newlands Colliery was opened in 1918 by the Cribbwr Fawr Collieries Ltd of Swansea and worked along with Cribbwr Fawr Colliery. ^1,2
• The colliery was a drift driven into the Upper Nine Feet seam. (disputed) ¹
• The colliery consisted of slants and a pit 253 yards deep, working seams under Margam Bay. (disputed) ²
• The workings reached the Gellideg seam at a depth of 759 ft 7 in. ¹
• In 1935 the colliery employed 100 on the surface and 700 underground, with an output of 170,000 tons. ¹
• In 1923 the colliery employed 352 men, producing house and manufacturing coal from the Cribbwr Fawr seam. ²
• In 1944 the under-manager William Jenkins was awarded the Edward Medal in Silver for rescuing two colliers trapped by a fall. ^3,4,1
• The National Coal Board closed the colliery on 22 March 1968, with 337 men remaining. ¹
• A plan of the colliery's Nos 1, 2 and 3 slants in the Lower Seven Feet (Slatog Fawr) seam was deposited as abandoned on 14 June 1947. ⁵

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Newlands Colliery - Northern Mine Research Society — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Newlands (Welsh Coal Mines) — Welsh Coal Mines
3. (secondary) Edward Medal Recipients — Mines Rescue History
4. (secondary) Medals — Welsh Coal Mines — Welsh Coal Mines
5. (primary) BGS mine plan: NEWLANDS, NOS 1, 2 & 3 SLANTS, CRIBBWR FAWR (Lower Seven Feet, abandoned 1947) — British Geological Survey / Mine Remediation Authority

Record created: 23 September 2026 · Last researched: 1 October 2026