Pontlash Colliery

Overview

A small anthracite pit at Pantyffynnon near Llandebie, opened about 1890, whose company of 1892 failed within four years and whose later owners gave it up after a lockout over a price-list in 1904.

History

Pontlash Colliery was a small anthracite pit at Pantyffynnon, near Llandebie in the Amman Valley. It was opened about 1890, and in June 1892 the Pontlash Colliery Company Ltd was registered with a capital of £6,000 to take over Mr James E. Lewis's interest in it. The prospectus described a mineral take of about 400 acres, leased for 50 years from March 1891, lying close to the London and North Western Railway with a branch of the Great Western running through it; two pits had already been sunk and two seams proved. The company did not last: it was struck off the register and dissolved in 1896.

Looker and Co. had the colliery by 1898. It had two shafts, the downcast 90 feet deep, and employed 9 men in 1900, 18 in 1902 and 35 in 1903, working the Stanllyd seam. A dispute over a price-list at the end of 1903 led to an assault case at Llandilo on Christmas Day, and from 9 July 1904 the men were locked out: the company offered the price-list of the same seam at neighbouring Caerbryn, the men wanted a higher one, and when arbitration broke down the company decided it could never work the colliery at a profit and gave it back to the landlord. About 100 men were affected.

The Pumpquart seam was abandoned in February 1905, and possibly the Gwendraeth in 1908. A young man named Dumphreys was killed at the colliery while William Rees was manager. The Pontlash or Cilwern pits later appear on the plans of the neighbouring Llandebie Colliery.

Geology

Anthracite seams of the Amman Valley: the Stanllyd, Pumpquart and possibly the Gwendraeth.

Workings

Two shafts, the downcast 90 feet deep, on a take of about 400 acres beside the railway.

Closure

The company gave the colliery back to the landlord after the 1904 lockout; the Pumpquart was abandoned in February 1905 and possibly the Gwendraeth in 1908.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Llandebie Colliery — The Pontlash or Cilwern pits are on the 1939 Llandebie Colliery plans; Llandebie's slant was driven in 1904, the year Pontlash was given up.

Recorded claims

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

• The Pontlash Colliery Company Ltd was registered in June 1892 with a capital of £6,000. ^1,2
• In 1892 the mineral take was about 400 acres on a 50-year lease from March 1891, with two pits already sunk. ²
• The Pontlash Colliery Company was struck off the register and dissolved in 1896. ³
• Employed 35 men in 1903, working the Stanllyd seam. ⁴
• After a lockout from 9 July 1904 over a price-list, the company gave the colliery up to the landlord; about 100 men were affected. ⁵
• A Christmas Day 1903 assault at Llandebie arose from a dispute at the colliery over signing a price-list. ⁶
• A young man named Dumphreys was killed at the colliery while William Rees was manager. ⁷
• The Pumpquart seam was abandoned in February 1905. ⁴
• The Pontlash or Cilwern pits appear on the 1939 Llandebie plans. ⁸

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) South Wales Finance (South Wales Daily News, 20 June 1892) — Welsh Newspapers Online (National Library of Wales)
2. (primary) Local Finance: prospectus of the Pontlash Colliery Company (Western Mail, 19 July 1892) — Welsh Newspapers Online (National Library of Wales)
3. (primary) Joint Stock Companies (South Wales Daily News, 16 September 1896) — Welsh Newspapers Online (National Library of Wales)
4. (secondary) Small Collieries of the Amman Valley — Northern Mine Research Society
5. (primary) South Wales Coal Trade: Disputes at Anthracite Collieries (Weekly Mail, 13 August 1904) — Welsh Newspapers Online (National Library of Wales)
6. (primary) Llandilo Police Court: Sequel to a Colliery Dispute (Carmarthen Weekly Reporter, 8 January 1904) — Welsh Newspapers Online (National Library of Wales)
7. (primary) Llandilo County Court: Claim for the Price of a Coffin (Carmarthen Journal, 11 March 1910) — Welsh Newspapers Online (National Library of Wales)
8. (primary) Llandebie, Upcast, Downcast, Pontlash or Cilwern Nos 1, 2 & 3 Mine Plans (Mining Remediation Authority plan SWR1464, Upper Nine Feet or Stanllyd, 1939) — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority

Record created: 15 September 2026 · Last researched: 9 October 2026