Rhydycar Colliery

Overview

A pit sunk to steam coal seams of the Lower and Middle Coal Measures at Rhydycar, worked in the 19th century by the Plymouth Iron Works Company and mainly producing the Gellideg seam.

History

Rhydycar Colliery was sunk to the steam coal seams of the Lower and Middle Coal Measures, found at a depth of 60 yards, mainly working the Gellideg seam. It was worked in the 19th century by the Plymouth Iron Works Company and abandoned in March 1924. The colliery takes its name from Rhyd-y-Car farm, whose freehold traces to a Michael Richards of Cardiff, identified in the leases for the nearby 1765 Cyfarthfa ironworks lease as a co-freeholder alongside the Talbot family; the connection likely descends from a division of the Merthyr estate between two sisters, daughters of Colonel Edward Pritchard, sometime between 1685 and 1729. The land east of the River Taff, including much of the Merthyr parish, was separately held by the Earl of Plymouth's family, whose 1763 lease gave rise to the Plymouth Ironworks that this colliery went on to supply.

Geology

Worked the Gellideg seam of the South Wales Coalfield's Lower and Middle Coal Measures.

Workings

A pit sunk 60 yards to the Lower and Middle Coal Measures, mainly working the Gellideg seam.

Closure

Abandoned in March 1924.

What remains

Unknown.

Nearby mines

• Cyfarthfa Ironworks — 0.9 km NW
• Albert Colliery — 1.4 km NE
• Dowlais Ironworks — 1.9 km NE
• Brewhouse Colliery — 2.0 km N
• Ffos-y-Fran — 2.7 km SE

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

Recorded claims

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

• Sunk to the steam coal seams of the Lower and Middle Coal Measures at 60 yards, mainly working the Gellideg seam, worked in the 19th century by the Plymouth Iron Works Company. ¹
• Abandoned in March 1924. ¹
• Rhyd-y-Car farm's freehold is traced to Michael Richards of Cardiff, a co-freeholder named in the 1765 Cyfarthfa ironworks lease, likely descending from a division of the Merthyr estate between two sisters between 1685 and 1729. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Small Collieries around Merthyr Tydfil — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Plymouth Ironworks (The Melting Pot) — The Melting Pot — Merthyr Tydfil's History and Culture

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