Plasbach Colliery

Overview

A Pontyates anthracite colliery that worked the Gwendraeth, Pumpquart and other seams from before 1880, screened the coal of neighbouring Gwendraeth Colliery, and was abandoned in 1927-28.

History

Plasbach Colliery was in the village of Pontyates in the Gwendraeth Valley. Its abandonment plans trace a long working life through several seams: the Gwendraeth seam was given up in 1892, old and new workings in the Pumpquart in 1896, and the Big, Green, Gras-ucha and Stanllyd seams in 1906. Its plans for the Gwendraeth seam are filed together with those of neighbouring Caepontbren.

The collier George Evans was killed there by a fall of roof in 1880, and William Gravell, a carter of fifteen, in 1897.

Plasbach's later history was bound up with Gwendraeth Colliery, a short way outside the village: the two were connected underground and by a surface tramway, and Gwendraeth's coal was brought to Plasbach to be screened. In the 1920s Plasbach belonged to the Gwendraeth Valley Anthracite Collieries Ltd. Its last workings, in the Pumpquart, were abandoned in 1927, and the Gwendraeth slant and the Plasbach levels were abandoned together in 1928.

Geology

Gwendraeth Valley anthracite: the Gwendraeth, Pumpquart, Big, Green, Gras-ucha and Stanllyd seams.

Workings

Levels in several seams, with screens that also served Gwendraeth Colliery, to which it was connected underground and by a surface tramway.

Closure

Its last Pumpquart workings were abandoned in 1927, and its levels were abandoned with the Gwendraeth slant in 1928.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Caepontbren Colliery — Their Gwendraeth-seam abandonment plans are filed together (CAEPONT-PREN / PLASBACH).
• Gwendraeth Colliery, Pontyates — Connected underground and by a surface tramway; Gwendraeth's coal was screened at Plasbach, and the two were abandoned together in 1927-28.

Recorded claims

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

• The Gwendraeth seam was abandoned in 1892. ¹
• Old and new workings in the Pumpquart were abandoned in 1896. ²
• The Big, Green, Gras-ucha and Stanllyd seams were abandoned in 1906. ³
• Gwendraeth Colliery's coal was screened at Plasbach, the two being connected underground and by tramway. ⁴
• It was owned by Gwendraeth Valley Anthracite Collieries Ltd in 1924. ⁵
• The last Pumpquart workings were abandoned in 1927. ⁶
• The Plasbach levels were abandoned with the Gwendraeth slant in 1928. ⁷
• George Evans, collier, was killed by a fall of roof at Plasbach in 1880. ⁸

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: PLASBACH, Gwendraeth seam, abandoned 1892 — British Geological Survey
2. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: PLASBACH, NEW, OLD, Pumpquart, abandoned 1896 — British Geological Survey
3. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: PLASBACH, Big, Green, Gras-ucha and Stanllyd seams, abandoned 1906 — British Geological Survey
4. (secondary) Welsh Coal Mines: Gwendraeth Colliery, Pontyates (with Caepontbren Colliery) — Welsh Coal Mines
5. (secondary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: H. Hoverstadt (injured), Plasbach, Pontyates, 29 December 1924 — Northern Mine Research Society
6. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: PLASBACH, Pumpquart, abandoned 1927 — British Geological Survey
7. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: GWENDRAETH SLANT & NOS 1, 2 AIR PITS, CAEPONTBREN, PLASBACH, FFAY, DANYBANK & TY-GWYN LEVELS, abandoned 1928 — British Geological Survey
8. (secondary) Welsh mining fatalities, 1880 — Welsh Coal Mines

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