Perthyglisson Colliery

Overview

A Troedyrhiw level feeding local ironworks, passing through a Plymouth Iron Company ownership before settling for its longest-documented years under one manager, R.T. Griffiths.

History

Perthyglisson — also spelled Perthygleison — was one of the small levels worked to feed local ironworks at Troedyrhiw. It was owned by Jones and Beddoe in 1858–69, then by the Plymouth Iron Company in 1870, before being owned and managed by R.T. Griffiths from 1878 to 1884. It worked the Cefn Glas seam around 1890, and possibly a small amount of the Brithdir seam, 21 inches thick. The Plymouth Ironworks that briefly owned it traced to a 1763 lease taken by Isaac Williams and John Guest on land belonging to the Earl of Plymouth, sub-leased in 1765 to Anthony Bacon, who built the works; ownership passed through Bacon's son Thomas, the Hill family (Richard Hill from 1793, his sons Anthony and Richard from 1818), and finally to Fothergill, Hankey and Bateman, who ran the ironworks until its closure in the 1880s while continuing to work its mining interests, which employed 3,000 miners as late as 1907.

Geology

Worked the Cefn Glas seam, and possibly a small amount of the Brithdir seam (21in), of the South Wales Coalfield.

Workings

A level working the Cefn Glas seam, and possibly a small amount of the 21-inch Brithdir seam.

Closure

Unknown; the last date recorded in the source read for this pass is R.T. Griffiths's ownership to 1884 and Cefn Glas working around 1890.

What remains

Unknown.

Nearby mines

• Gethin Colliery — 2.1 km NW
• Merthyr Vale Colliery — 2.1 km SE, Rhondda Cynon Taf
• Nixon's Navigation Colliery — 2.5 km S, Rhondda Cynon Taf
• Ffos-y-Fran — 3.0 km N
• Middle Duffryn Colliery — 3.0 km W, Rhondda Cynon Taf

Straight-line distance, within 15 km. Show on the map.

Recorded claims

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

• Owned by Jones and Beddoe (1858–69), the Plymouth Iron Company (1870), and R.T. Griffiths, who both owned and managed it (1878–84). ¹
• Worked the Cefn Glas seam around 1890, and possibly a small amount of the 21-inch Brithdir seam. ¹
• The Plymouth Ironworks traced to an Earl of Plymouth lease of 1763, passing through Anthony Bacon, the Hill family and finally Fothergill, Hankey and Bateman, who ran it to its 1880s closure while continuing its mining interests, which still employed 3,000 miners in 1907. ^1,2

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Small Collieries around Merthyr Tydfil — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Plymouth Ironworks (The Melting Pot) — The Melting Pot — Merthyr Tydfil's History and Culture

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