Rhiw Colbren Colliery

Overview

A group of levels on the west side of the Ebbw Fach valley near Abertillery, working the Tillery seam under the mountain towards Cwm. Opened by T. F. Salt in the 1880s, it passed to the Badman brothers and the Blaendare Company; the last level, No. 2, stopped winding coal in April 1950.

History

Rhiw Colbren was a series of levels driven into the Tillery (Brithdir) seam on the west side of the valley near Abertillery, working under the mountain between Abertillery and Cwm. The No. 3 was the most southerly, beside the Upper Arail level, and towards the western boundary with the Cwm level the coal grew thin. Welsh Coal Mines first finds it listed in 1886 under T. F. Salt and abandoned by September 1887; the BGS catalogue holds a plan of Rhiw Colbren in the Cwmtillery seam abandoned in 1887. It reappears in 1899 under Salt and Carpenter and from 1902 under Thomas F. Salt alone, employing 13 men in 1908 by one count and 31 by another.

The Badman brothers owned the levels by 1918, employing 30 men that year and 34 in 1923. No. 1 reached its peak of 73 men in 1929. By 1930-32 the Blaendare Company of Pontypool, whose directors were W. H. V. and H. M. Bythway, was working them: 68 men at No. 2 and 35 at No. 5 in 1930. In 1934 Rhiw Colbren and the company's Quarry Level together produced 40,000 tons of house, steam and manufacturing coal. No. 2 peaked at 122 men in 1939 and No. 5 at 44 in 1937.

At nationalisation in 1947 the National Coal Board placed the colliery in its No. 6 (Monmouthshire) Area. The Nos. 3 and 5 levels closed on 3 November 1947; No. 2 went on working longwall to the south of the take, with 47 men producing 9,000 tons in 1949, and ceased winding coal on 7 April 1950, when 38 men were affected. A No. 6 level was listed from 1931 to 1933 but marked as not worked since 1930.

Geology

The Tillery (Brithdir) seam, also recorded as the Tillery Red Ash, with the Cwmtillery seam worked in the 1880s; the coal thinned towards the western boundary with the Cwm level.

Workings

A series of numbered levels (Nos. 1 to 6, of which Nos. 3 and 4 never appear in the lists) driven into the hillside; No. 2 latterly worked longwall to the south of the take.

Closure

Nos. 3 and 5 levels closed on 3 November 1947; No. 2 ceased winding coal on 7 April 1950, affecting 38 men. Its abandonment plan is dated 30 June 1950.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Blaendare Colliery — Both worked by the Blaendare Company of Pontypool in the 1930s.
• Quarry Level — Both worked by the Blaendare Company, whose output from the two was returned together in 1934.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• In 1908 it employed 13 men under Thomas F. Salt. (disputed) ¹
• In 1908 it employed 31 men. (disputed) ³

Recorded claims

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

• Rhiw Colbren was first listed in 1886 under T. F. Salt and abandoned by September 1887. ^1,2
• The Badman brothers owned the levels by 1923, and the Blaendare Company of Pontypool by 1932. ^3,1
• In 1934 Rhiw Colbren and the Quarry Level together produced 40,000 tons of coal. ³
• Nos. 3 and 5 levels closed on 3 November 1947 and No. 2 in 1950. ^3,1,4
• In 1908 it employed 13 men under Thomas F. Salt. (disputed) ¹
• In 1908 it employed 31 men. (disputed) ³

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Welsh Coal Mines: West Blaina Red Ash, East Blaina Red Ash and Rhiw Colbren — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: RHIW COLBREN (Cwmtillery seam, abandoned 1887) — British Geological Survey
3. (secondary) NMRS: Rhiw Colbren Colliery — Northern Mine Research Society
4. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: RHIW COLBREN NO 2 (Tillery Red Ash, abandoned 30 June 1950) — British Geological Survey

Record created: 11 October 2026 · Last researched: 11 October 2026