Pantmawr Colliery

Overview

An anthracite colliery at Ystradgynlais in the upper Swansea Valley, worked by D. E. James from about 1899, listed from 1913 as Brynygroes, and finally abandoned in July 1922 after a run of short-lived owners.

History

Pantmawr was an anthracite drift at Ystradgynlais, near the head of the Swansea Valley, one of many levels driven into the Upper Coal Measures that the valley cuts through. The valley floor follows the Swansea Valley Disturbance, a narrow, structurally broken belt along which the Coal Measures have moved both sideways and vertically. In 1900 the drift belonged to D. E. James of Ystradgynlais and employed 24 men underground and six at the surface. It abandoned the Four Feet seam in April 1903 but grew to 52 men by 1907 and to 75 by 1912, still under James until about 1908 and owned in 1913 by Pantmawr Anthracite Collieries Limited. A chargeman was crushed between a dram and the low roof while riding a journey in August 1911, and in January 1916 a collier who had worked there only five weeks was suffocated by fumes in a tight end after shotfiring, where the ventilation was poor. From 1913 the colliery was listed as Brynygroes. A Brynygroes Colliery Company took it over in 1915 and abandoned it on 4 January 1919; D. Morgan and Sons reopened it in 1920 only to close it again in March 1921, and after a last listing under the Gurnos Anthracite Colliery Company it was finally abandoned on 20 July 1922. In 1923 three men named Morgan, of Ystrad Mynach, were accused of fraud over a sum received for the sale of the colliery. Its slants worked the Nine Feet and Peacock seams after 1903, then the Middle, the Big and the Harnlo, the White in 1920-21 and the Harnlo again to the end, and the Coal Authority's plans record the workings as Pantmawr or Bryn-y-groes.

Geology

Anthracite of the Upper Coal Measures, including the Four Feet seam, beside the Swansea Valley Disturbance, a narrow fracture zone along which the Coal Measures have moved horizontally and vertically.

Workings

Nos 1 and 2 slants and a return, with their mouths at SN 786 105, and a new level to the White vein at SN 784 104.

Closure

The Four Feet seam was abandoned in April 1903. As Brynygroes the colliery was abandoned on 4 January 1919, reopened in 1920, closed in March 1921, and finally abandoned on 20 July 1922.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

What's uncertain

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

• Bryngroes level was worked in conjunction with Pantmawr when it closed in 1922, the two employing 60 men. (disputed) ⁵

Recorded claims

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

• In 1900 Pantmawr, an anthracite drift, was owned by D. E. James of Ystradgynlais and employed 24 men underground and 6 at the surface. ¹
• Pantmawr abandoned the Four Feet seam in 1903. ^1,2
• In 1913 it employed 42 men and was owned by Pantmawr Anthracite Collieries Limited. ¹
• In August 1911 a chargeman at Pantmawr Colliery was crushed between a dram and the low roof while riding a journey. ³
• In January 1916 a collier at Pantmawr Colliery, Ystradgynlais, was suffocated by fumes after shotfiring in a poorly ventilated tight end. ⁴
• Bryngroes level was worked in conjunction with Pantmawr when it closed in 1922, the two employing 60 men. (disputed) ⁵
• First listed in 1900 under D. E. James as Pantmawr Colliery, the colliery was listed as Brynygroes from 1913. ⁶
• Brynygroes was finally abandoned on 20 July 1922; its highest manpower was 75, in 1912. ⁶

Sources

1. (secondary) Pantmawr Colliery — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (primary) BGS mine plans: Pantmawr, Four Feet seam, abandoned 1903 — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority
3. (secondary) Welsh mining fatalities, 1911 — Welsh Coal Mines
4. (secondary) 1916 fatalities — Welsh Coal Mines
5. (secondary) Bryngroes Colliery — Northern Mine Research Society
6. (secondary) Abercrave – Abercraf Colliery — Welsh Coal Mines — Welsh Coal Mines

Record created: 16 October 2026 · Last researched: 16 October 2026