Pentrefron Colliery

Overview

A Coedpoeth colliery with a Boulton & Watt pumping engine of 1803, drowned out on 27 September 1819 when two men died and John Evans was found alive in a roof cavity after twelve days.

History

Pentrefron Colliery, also called Pentre'r-fron, Pentre Fram and the Old Talwrn Pit, lay on the Bersham side of the River Gwenfro, just beyond Pentre'r-fron farm and below Plas Mostyn, in the old township of Bersham near Coedpoeth. William Wilkinson, brother of the ironmaster John Wilkinson, built an engine house there in 1803 for a 36-inch pumping engine with an 8-foot stroke, ordered from Boulton & Watt; his partner and mine agent in the venture was Robert Burton. The works is sometimes confused with the Plas Mostyn colliery, which William Wilkinson sank about 1801.

On 27 September 1819 the colliery flooded. Two men drowned, and after twelve days and nights, or thirteen without food by another account, a miner named John Evans was found alive in a cavity in the roof. He had survived in the dark by eating candles and drinking the water that dripped from the rock. The management had put three coffins ready at the pit head; Evans kept his at home as a piece of furniture for years. His rescue made him a minor celebrity. The flooding was so severe that the colliery never worked again.

Spoil tips from the pit are still visible beside the stream on the Bersham side, and a track runs to the site of an old engine house. Ordnance Survey maps from 1872 to the end of the century mark the site as Old Talwrn Colliery. The Talwrn Colliery proper, a newer working to the east, was in production from at least the 1850s and later became part of the Vron Colliery.

Geology

Unknown.

Workings

An engine house built in 1803 held a 36-inch, 8-foot-stroke pumping engine from Boulton & Watt. Before the engine, winding was by a hand whimsey; the colliery was flooded in 1819.

Closure

The colliery ceased working when it was drowned out in September 1819, and did not reopen. Two men drowned and one survivor, John Evans, was brought out alive.

What remains

Old spoil tips are still visible beside the stream on the Bersham side of the Gwenfro.

Spoil tips remain, grown over, and a track leads to the site of an old engine house among meadows and hawthorns.

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.

• The flooding of 27 September 1819 led to the rescue of John Evans, who had survived thirteen days without food. (disputed) ¹
• John Evans was found alive in a roof cavity after twelve days and nights, having eaten candles and drunk dripping water. (disputed) ^2,3

Recorded claims

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

• An engine house at Pentre'r-fron was built in 1803 by William Wilkinson for a 36-inch, 8-foot-stroke pumping engine ordered from Boulton & Watt, with Robert Burton as his partner and mine agent. ¹
• The colliery was drowned out in September 1819 and ceased working; two men drowned. ^2,3
• The flooding of 27 September 1819 led to the rescue of John Evans, who had survived thirteen days without food. (disputed) ¹
• John Evans was found alive in a roof cavity after twelve days and nights, having eaten candles and drunk dripping water. (disputed) ^2,3
• The colliery was also known as Pentrefron, Pentre Fram and the Old Talwrn Pit. ^4,2,1
• The site lies at SJ282521 in Talwrn, Coedpoeth, on the Bersham side of the Gwenfro. ^4,1

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Pentre'r-fron (The history of the township of Brymbo) — The Fire on the Hill
2. (secondary) Gatewen, Vron, Broughton and Coedpoeth collieries — Welsh Coal Mines
3. (secondary) Coedpoeth — Wikipedia
4. (secondary) Denbighshire Collieries — Clwyd Family History Society

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