Rhigos Colliery

Overview

Rhigos Colliery was an anthracite drift complex on the mountain between Rhigos and Glyn Neath, worked through seven successive drifts rather than any shaft. It began in 1919 as Peacock, became New Peacock and then Rigos, and took the name Rhigos in 1937 when C. L. Clay & Co. Ltd took over; the company was later acquired by Harry Llewellyn, who went on to win Britain's only gold medal at the 1952 Olympics. By 1938 it employed 811 men across three drifts. On the evening of 10 July 1941 a gas explosion about a mile inside No. 4 Drift killed 16 men and boys (see Disasters, below). Production moved through successive drifts as each was worked out or failed, ending with No. 7, and the National Coal Board closed the colliery in February 1965.

History

The workings sit at the head of the Vale of Neath, on ground the colliery shared with the older and separate British Rhondda complex; between them the two covered something like a square mile, and a very large number of openings were made across that area over time, so Rhigos is better understood as a group of mines than as a single pit. The Rhigos complex itself began in 1919 as Peacock, became New Peacock, then Rigos without the 'h', and finally Rhigos in 1937 when C. L. Clay & Co. Ltd took it over. Clay's arrival began a period of expansion: Nos. 2 and 3 were driven in Nant Tyr Mynydd in 1938, No. 4 in Nant Llyn Fach in 1939 and No. 5 in 1940. Not all succeeded — No. 3 was abandoned in 1939 and No. 5 in 1941. By 1938 the colliery employed 811 men at Nos. 1, 2 and 3, working anthracite from the Yard, Lower Yard, Bluers, Peacock and Lower Peacock seams. The company was later acquired by Harry Llewellyn, second son of the colliery owner Sir David Llewellyn and himself the rider of Foxhunter, who took Britain's only gold medal at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. The gas explosion of 10 July 1941 killed 16 in No. 4 Drift. No. 6 was driven further west in 1941 and closed in 1956; by 1945 Nos. 2 and 3 had stopped and 350 men worked No. 1, 231 No. 4 and 113 No. 5. The last drift, No. 7, was not begun until 1953. Coal from it ran to the surface on conveyors, into a bunker and then trams, which diesel locomotives took to a siding above the old No. 1 before a rope haulage lowered them to the screens and washery above Pontwalby. The National Coal Board closed the colliery in February 1965.

Geology

The colliery worked the anthracite of the western South Wales Coalfield, where the Coal Measures reach the highest rank of coal found in Britain. Five seams are recorded as worked here — the Yard, Lower Yard, Bluers, Peacock and Lower Peacock — the Peacock giving the enterprise its original name. The ground was reached by drifts driven into the valley sides of Nant Tyr Mynydd and Nant Llyn Fach rather than by sinking, which is what the outcropping of the measures on these steep slopes allowed.

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

Workings

Entirely a drift or slant colliery: seven were driven between 1919 and 1953, numbered in order of driving and worked in succession as each was exhausted or failed. Underground haulage on the last drift was by a series of conveyors from the face to the surface. At bank the coal went into a large bunker, then into trams which diesel locomotives drew to a siding above the old No. 1 drift, where a rope haulage lowered them to the screens and washery above Pontwalby, Glynneath.

Closure

Individual drifts closed throughout the colliery's life — No. 3 abandoned 1939, No. 5 in 1941, No. 6 in 1956, No. 2 at some point before 1955 and No. 4 in 1960. The last, No. 7, worked from 1953 until the National Coal Board closed the colliery in February 1965. No source located states the reason for the final closure.

What remains

No description of the present state of the site has been located. The drift mouths lay on open mountain ground between Rhigos and the Vale of Neath and the site is not known to have been redeveloped, but nothing found in this pass records what survives.

Nearby mines

• Aberpergwm Colliery — 4.2 km N
• Glenrhondda Colliery — 5.7 km SE, Rhondda Cynon Taf
• Dunraven Colliery — 5.9 km SE, Rhondda Cynon Taf
• Blaenant Colliery — 6.2 km W
• Tower Colliery — 6.8 km E, Rhondda Cynon Taf

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

Disasters & major incidents

• Rhigos Colliery Explosion
  10 July 1941 · Explosion · 16 fatalities
  Between eight and nine on the evening of 10 July 1941, gas exploded about a mile inside No. 4 Drift at Rhigos Colliery, above the Vale of Neath. Sixteen men and boys were killed, all believed to have died instantly in the blast, out of 36 underground. The dead came from the Aberdare and Glynneath area and included a father and son, and five of them were aged 18 or under. At the September inquest the coroner concluded that the gas had been ignited by a miner smoking: cigarettes and matches were found on and beside the bodies.

Recorded claims

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

• The complex began in 1919 as Peacock, became New Peacock, then Rigos, and took the name Rhigos in 1937 when C. L. Clay & Co. Ltd took over. ¹
• The colliery page states Rhigos was known locally as 'British Rhonda' and later 'The Pandy', but a detailed addendum on the same page describes British Rhondda as a separate and older complex, itself once called Pandy or Fforchygaran, distinct from Rhigos. (disputed) ¹
• In 1938 the colliery employed 811 men at Nos. 1, 2 and 3 drifts, producing anthracite from the Yard, Lower Yard, Bluers, Peacock and Lower Peacock seams. ¹
• The company was acquired by Harry Llewellyn, described by the source as an Olympic steeplechaser. He was in fact a showjumper, winner of Britain's only gold medal at the 1952 Olympics on Foxhunter, and the second son of the colliery owner Sir David Llewellyn; he also rode in the Grand National, which may account for the description. (uncertain) ¹
• Sixteen men and boys were killed by a gas explosion about a mile inside No. 4 Drift on the evening of 10 July 1941, out of 36 underground at the time. ^1,2
• The National Coal Board closed the colliery in February 1965, the last working drift being No. 7, driven in 1953. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Rhigos Colliery — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (secondary) Welsh mining fatalities, 1941 — Welsh Coal Mines

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