Penllwyn Colliery

Overview

A small private anthracite mine near Cross Hands that worked the steep Lower Brondini seam from 1953 to 1964 and again as the New Penllwyn Mine from 1992 until 1998.

History

Penllwyn Colliery lay a couple of miles south-west of Cross Hands, off the road from Llannon to Pontyberem near Penllwyn Isaf farm. It worked the Lower Brondini seam and was one of the last private small mines to be developed in South Wales. E. J. Mainwaring and A. H. Jamieson opened it in 1953, and the Penllwyn Colliery Company owned it from 1960 until it was abandoned on 28 May 1964. In 1960 its reserves were put at 148,700 tons, but only 2,165 tons were mined that year.

The colliery later belonged to Raymond Owens, and in June 1992 his son Richard was granted permission by Llanelli Borough Council to work it again. Redeveloped under the supervision of Byron Jones as the New Penllwyn (or Penllwyn New) Mine, it was worked from three slants and more opened later in the 1990s.

The seam was between 2 feet 6 inches and 2 feet 9 inches thick, with a dirt band in the middle, and dipped steeply: stalls were driven off a main roadway and the colliers worked to the rise, climbing the face timbers like a ladder. Coal was shovelled on to an armoured face conveyor and the drams were hauled out by rope. About ten men worked there at the end, and the mine was finally abandoned on 9 November 1998.

Geology

The Lower Brondini seam, 2 feet 6 inches to 2 feet 9 inches with a central dirt band, steeply dipping.

Workings

Slants, three at first and more in the 1990s; stalls driven off a main roadway and worked to the rise, with an armoured face conveyor and rope haulage of drams.

Closure

Abandoned on 28 May 1964; reopened in 1992 and finally abandoned on 9 November 1998.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Recorded claims

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

• Penllwyn Colliery was opened in 1953 by E. J. Mainwaring and A. H. Jamieson. ¹
• It was abandoned on 28 May 1964. ^1,2
• In 1960 its reserves were estimated at 148,700 tons, but only 2,165 tons were mined. ¹
• It was reopened in 1992 as the New Penllwyn Mine and finally abandoned on 9 November 1998. ^1,3
• It worked the Lower Brondini seam. ^1,3

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Welsh Coal Mines: Other small mines — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: PENLLWYN, Brondini seam, abandoned 28 May 1964 — British Geological Survey
3. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: PENLLWYN NEW MINE, Lower Brondini seam, abandoned 9 November 1998 — British Geological Survey

Record created: 10 October 2026 · Last researched: 10 October 2026