North Tunnel Colliery

Overview

A Dowlais Iron Company level working the Big Vein (Four-Feet) seam under manager T. Phillips in the late 1870s, very likely the same pit recorded elsewhere simply as "Tunnel" among the shared workings of the wider Dowlais Collieries complex.

History

North Tunnel Colliery worked the Big Vein (Four-Feet) seam under the ownership of the Dowlais Iron Company, managed by T. Phillips in 1878; no further dates for it survive in that account.

North Tunnel was the North Pit of the Dowlais Iron Company's Tunnel Pits. Tunnel Pit was begun in 1858 and abandoned after 80 yards, restarted in 1869 as the company's older pits gave out and steam coal was in demand, and bottomed on 2 July 1870; the South Pit raised coal from August 1874 at 338 yards and the North Pit from April 1876 at 324 yards, the development costing £62,000. In 1891 the North pit, the upcast, measured 18 by 10 feet and was 753 feet deep. From 1894 it went over to ventilation and by 1896 raised no coal, serving for ventilation, pumping and supplies while the South pit worked on. The wider complex's seam workings continued into 1917: the Lower-Four-Feet seam was abandoned in August 1908 and its top section in July 1917, the Little or Seven-Feet in July 1917, the Rhas Las or Nine-Feet in May 1917 and the Red Vein in October 1917. Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds took the pits over in 1908 with 542 employed, 565 with Cwmbargoed in 1918, and the colliery closed in 1924.

Geology

Worked the Big Vein (Four-Feet) seam; possibly also the Lower-Four-Feet, Little/Seven-Feet, Rhas Las/Nine-Feet and Red Vein seams if identical with "Tunnel".

Workings

A level working the Big Vein (Four-Feet) seam; possibly the same pit later sharing the Lower-Four-Feet, Little/Seven-Feet, Rhas Las/Nine-Feet and Red Vein seams with the wider Dowlais Collieries complex.

Closure

The North pit stopped raising coal by 1896 and served as the upcast for ventilation, pumping and supplies until the Tunnel Pits closed in 1924.

Related mines

• Dowlais Ironworks — One of the Dowlais Iron Company levels working the Big Vein (Four-Feet) seam to feed the Dowlais Ironworks.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• A pit named simply "Tunnel" is recorded sharing the Lower-Four-Feet, Little/Seven-Feet, Rhas Las/Nine-Feet and Red Vein seams with the wider Dowlais Collieries complex into 1917; very likely the same pit as North Tunnel, though not independently confirmed. (uncertain) ²

Recorded claims

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

• Worked the Big Vein (Four-Feet) seam under the Dowlais Iron Company, managed by T. Phillips in 1878. ¹
• A pit named simply "Tunnel" is recorded sharing the Lower-Four-Feet, Little/Seven-Feet, Rhas Las/Nine-Feet and Red Vein seams with the wider Dowlais Collieries complex into 1917; very likely the same pit as North Tunnel, though not independently confirmed. (uncertain) ²
• Part of the wider Dowlais Collieries complex, the umbrella name for everything worked for the Dowlais Iron Works. ²
• Welsh Coal Mines has Tunnel Pit begun in 1858 and abandoned after 80 yards, restarted in 1869 and bottomed on 2 July 1870; the South Pit raised coal from August 1874 at 338 yards and the North Pit from April 1876 at 324 yards, the whole development costing £62,000. ³
• In 1891 the North Tunnel pit, the upcast, measured 18 by 10 feet and was 753 feet deep against the South pit's 1,021; from 1894 the North pit went over to ventilation and by 1896 raised no coal, serving for ventilation, pumping and supplies; Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds took over in 1908 with 542 employed, 565 with Cwmbargoed in 1918, and the colliery closed in 1924. ³

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Small collieries of the Dowlais Cwmbargoed & Penydarren areas — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Dowlais Collieries — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (secondary) Tunnel Pits, Merthyr (Welsh Coal Mines) — Welsh Coal Mines

Record created: 15 September 2026 · Last researched: 24 September 2026