Pochin Colliery

Overview

A Sirhowy valley colliery near Tredegar, sunk from 1876 by the Tredegar Iron and Coal Company and named after Henry Davis Pochin, one of its directors. Two shafts reached 380 and 325 yards, later deepened to 426, and the first coal came up in 1881. An explosion on 8 November 1884 killed fourteen men repairing a pumping station underground, along with all forty-three ponies stabled below; a fifteenth man died falling down the shaft in the crush at the pithead. Pochin went on to become the largest of the company's South Wales collieries, employing 2,252 men in 1923, and closed in 1964.

History

The Tredegar Iron and Coal Company sank two shafts at Pochin from 1876, the No. 1 upcast to 380 yards and the No. 2 downcast to 325, and raised the first coal in 1881. The colliery was named for Henry Davis Pochin, a Manchester industrial chemist and briefly a Liberal MP, who was one of the company's directors. Barely three years after the first coal, on the evening of Saturday 8 November 1884, an explosion killed fourteen men who were at work on a pumping station in an adit part-way down the shaft (see Disasters, below). The colliery went on working. By 1888 it was taking the Big Vein and Yard seams, prime coking coals, in conditions described as good; one of the first air compressors in the coalfield was put to work here in 1893; the shafts were deepened to 426 yards in 1895; and a washery was installed in 1897 to bring the ash content down and make the coal easier to sell. The workforce grew from 1,129 in 1896 to 1,550 by 1908 and 2,252 by 1923, by which date the colliery was raising ironstone as well as steam coal, from the Big Vein, Yard, Old Coal and Upper and Lower Rhas Las seams. The old wooden headgears were replaced with steel lattice in the early 1920s. By 1935 Pochin was the largest of the Tredegar company's South Wales collieries, with 1,409 men underground and 166 on the surface and a saleable output of 420,000 tons. Nationalisation in 1947 found 894 employed; by the early 1960s that had fallen to 582 and output to 92,566 tons a year. The colliery closed in 1964.

Geology

The colliery worked the coking and steam coals of the South Wales Coalfield on the eastern side of the Sirhowy valley. From 1888 the Big Vein and the Yard were the main seams, both classed as prime coking coals, and by the 1920s the Old Coal and the Upper and Lower Rhas Las were being worked as well, together with ironstone from the same measures. The shafts were sunk to 380 and 325 yards and deepened to 426 yards in 1895 as the workings followed the seams down the pitch.

Geological setting: Sedimentary Beds and Seams (well documented example)

Workings

Two shafts: the No. 1 upcast and the No. 2 downcast, sunk from 1876 to 380 and 325 yards and deepened to 426 yards in 1895. Ventilation depended on a surface fan, which the 1884 explosion destroyed. A pumping station stood in an adit part-way down the shaft, and forty-three ponies were stabled underground. One of the earliest air compressors in the coalfield was installed in 1893 and a coal washery in 1897; the wooden headgears were replaced with steel lattice in the early 1920s.

Closure

Manpower fell from 894 at nationalisation in 1947 to 582 in the early 1960s, and saleable output to 92,566 tons a year. The colliery closed in 1964.

What remains

The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales records the colliery site as now largely landscaped. Its name survives in the Sirhowy valley street names above it — Pochin Crescent at Tredegar and Pochin Villas north of Hollybush.

None recorded; the site is described as largely landscaped. RCAHMW holds an undated photograph by Douglas Hague of the colliery engine house, but it is not licensed for reuse.

Redevelopment

The colliery site has been landscaped; no redevelopment scheme is recorded.

Related mines

• Oakdale Colliery — Both were sunk and worked by the Tredegar Iron and Coal Company; Pochin was the largest of the company's South Wales collieries by 1935.
• Wyllie Colliery — Both were worked by the Tredegar Iron and Coal Company in the Sirhowy valley.

Nearby mines

• Elliot Colliery — 2.4 km SW, Caerphilly
• New Tredegar Colliery — 2.4 km SW, Caerphilly
• Bedwellty Pits — 3.5 km N
• McLaren Colliery — 3.5 km W, Caerphilly
• Darran Colliery — 5.3 km S, Caerphilly

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

Disasters & major incidents

• Pochin Colliery Explosion, 1884
  8 November 1884 · Explosion · 15 fatalities
  An explosion at Pochin Colliery in the Sirhowy valley at about nine o'clock on the evening of Saturday 8 November 1884 killed fourteen men who were repairing a pumping station underground, and all forty-three ponies stabled below. The ventilation fan was destroyed, so rescuers could not go down until the Sunday afternoon. A fifteenth man died at the surface, falling down the shaft in the crush at the pithead. The Inspector of Mines reported to the Home Secretary that the explosion was due to shot-firing; the inquest found there was no evidence to show how it had occurred.

Recorded claims

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

• The Tredegar Iron and Coal Company sank the No. 1 upcast and No. 2 downcast shafts from 1876 to depths of 380 and 325 yards; the first coal was raised in 1881. ^1,2
• Welsh Coal Mines says the colliery was named after Henry Davis Pochin, one of the company's directors; the RCAHMW record says it was named after the daughter of that director. (disputed) ^1,2
• The shafts were deepened to 426 yards in 1895. ¹
• One of the first air compressors in the district was put to use at Pochin in 1893, and a washery was installed in 1897 to reduce the ash content of the product. ^1,2
• The workforce rose from 1,129 in 1896 to 1,550 in 1908 and 2,252 in 1923; by 1935 Pochin was the largest of the company's South Wales collieries, with 1,575 employed and a saleable output of 420,000 tons. ^1,2
• Manpower had fallen to 582 and output to 92,566 tons a year by the early 1960s; the colliery closed in 1964. ^1,2
• The RCAHMW records the colliery site as now largely landscaped. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Pochin Colliery, Tredegar — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (primary) Pochin Colliery, Tredegar (NPRN 33580) — Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales

Record created: 3 September 2026 · Last researched: 4 September 2026