River Level Colliery, Aberdare

Overview

Levels opened by the Aberdare Iron Company in the early 1830s at Abernant, near Aberdare, later developed into a shaft colliery on the site of the old ironworks. Water breaking in from an abandoned neighbouring colliery drowned six men and boys in 1896 (see Disasters, below); the colliery worked on under new ownership until 1940.

History

Levels were first opened in this area by the Aberdare Iron Company in the early 1830s. On the Monday reported by the Monmouthshire Merlin of 3 September 1836, an explosion of foul air in the River Level killed the collier Watkin David and left his nephew William David badly burnt; Watkin David's own son was also severely injured, while a fourth man, Amos Thomas, escaped unhurt. The paper noted that Watkin David's brother, Thomas David, had been killed in a similar accident some years earlier at the Llanvabon colliery. A proper colliery was established on the site of the ruined ironworks during the 1870s, with two shafts 109 yards deep, initially wound by a water balance with furnace ventilation; three further shafts were added later. The Aberdare and Plymouth Company was in charge by 1875, managed by a Mr Hughes from 1878. By 1896 it was owned by the Aberdare Works and Collieries Company, managed by Rees Howells, and — sources differ slightly on the figure — employed around 283 to 314 men, working the Nine Feet, No.2 Yard and Gellydeg seams by the pillar and stall method under naked lights. On 9 December 1896, water broke in from the abandoned, neighbouring Ysguborwen colliery and drowned six men and boys (see Disasters, below). The colliery temporarily closed and ownership reverted to the Marquis of Bute Estates. The Powell Duffryn Steam Coal Company reopened it in 1915, sinking two shafts to the Nine Feet seam; employment grew to 437 by 1918 and peaked at over 1,000 through the 1920s and early 1930s, working the Nine Feet, Seven Feet, Yard and Gellideg seams. By 1938 it employed 808 men. It closed as a production unit in 1940, though a handful of men remained on pumping duties into the mid-1940s.

Geology

Worked, at various periods, the Nine Feet, Seven Feet, No.2 Yard and Gellydeg (Gellideg) seams of the South Wales Coalfield; the Gellideg, struck at 98.55 metres, was the lowest-lying seam worked in this part of the coalfield and the seam in which the 1896 inrush occurred.

Workings

Originally shallow levels, developed from the 1870s into a shaft colliery with, eventually, five shafts on the site of the former Abernant ironworks.

Closure

Closed as a production unit in 1940; a small pumping team remained into the mid-1940s.

What remains

Not established from the sources read for this pass.

Not established from the sources read for this pass.

Redevelopment

Not established from the sources read for this pass.

Related mines

• Ysguborwen Colliery — Ysguborwen's own abandoned, flooded workings burst into River Level Colliery in 1896, drowning six men and boys; the official inquiry found Ysguborwen's managers responsible for the deaths.

Nearby mines

• Ysguborwen Colliery — 0.3 km SW
• Werfa Colliery — 1.2 km E
• Blaengwawr Colliery — 1.4 km S
• Aberaman Colliery — 2.3 km S
• Nantmelyn Colliery — 2.7 km W

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

Disasters & major incidents

• River Level Colliery inrush, 1896
  9 December 1896 · Flooding / Inundation · 6 fatalities
  Water broke through from the abandoned, adjoining Ysguborwen colliery into the Gellydeg seam workings of River Level Colliery on 9 December 1896, drowning six men and boys; an inquiry found the barrier between the two collieries had been reduced to a few feet by unrecorded workings on the Ysguborwen side, and that the case for manslaughter against Ysguborwen's managers was strong but unlikely to secure a conviction.

Recorded claims

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

• An explosion of foul air in the River Level killed the collier Watkin David and severely burnt his nephew William David and injured his son, on Monday 29 August 1836 (reported in the Monmouthshire Merlin, 3 September 1836). ¹
• Levels opened in the early 1830s by the Aberdare Iron Company; a proper colliery, with two 109-yard shafts, was established on the ruined ironworks site during the 1870s. ^1,2
• Welsh Coal Mines gives 312-314 men employed in 1896; NMRS gives 283 men underground and 31 on the surface (314 total) under manager Rees Howells -- broadly consistent, kept as a single approximate figure. (uncertain) ^1,2
• Reopened in 1915 by the Powell Duffryn Steam Coal Company, sinking two shafts to the Nine Feet seam; employment reached over 1,000 through the 1920s and early 1930s before the colliery closed as a production unit in 1940. ^1,2

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) River Level Colliery Aberdare (Welsh Coal Mines) — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (secondary) River Level Colliery (NMRS) — Northern Mine Research Society

Record created: 13 September 2026 · Last researched: 14 September 2026