Rock Colliery, Blackwood

Overview

A house-coal colliery just north of Blackwood, begun as a level in the early 1800s and given a shaft in the late 1880s. Known locally as Budd's Rock after Budd and Co., it employed up to 190 men in the Mynyddislwyn seams and closed in 1957.

History

Rock Colliery, known locally as Budd's Rock after its last private owners, stood just north of Blackwood in the Sirhowy valley and worked the shallow house-coal seams, the two Mynyddislwyn seams. Welsh Coal Mines has it opened as a level in the early 1800s and named in the Royal Commission report of 1842, when the Rock Colliery Company owned it; Caerphilly council's history of the valley dates the colliery from 1878. A youth of nineteen drowned on 10 September 1855, under an owner named Marsh, when the workings broke into old waterlogged ground, and roof falls killed many men over the years. A shaft was sunk in the late 1880s for raising coal only, under a wooden headgear, while the men still went in and out by the old level, and the Llanarth tramroad from Ynysddu ended at the colliery. In 1896 Lewis Lewis and Sons owned it and employed 46 men; by 1908 Budd and Co. had it with 182, and at its peak in 1916 190 men worked the Mynyddislwyn seams. The 1933 Colliery Year Book lists it under Budds Blackwood Collieries Limited of Newport, with 181 men underground and 24 on the surface, managed by John Jenkins of Rock Cottage, Blackwood; the company's output, from this pit and its Cwmgelli and Waunborla levels, was about 48,000 tons a year of household, gas and bunker coal. It employed 86 men in 1945 and closed in 1957.

Geology

House coal of the upper coal measures of the South Wales coalfield: the two Mynyddislwyn seams (the seam known as the Tillery in the Ebbw valley and the Brithdir in the Sirhowy).

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

Workings

An early level, through which the men still travelled, and a shallow shaft of the late 1880s used only for raising coal, with a wooden headgear; steam power in the 1930s. Served by the Llanarth tramroad from Ynysddu.

Closure

Closed in 1957 (Welsh Coal Mines; Caerphilly County Borough Council gives 1878-1957). No cause is recorded.

What remains

Unknown.

Unknown.

Related mines

• Aberbeeg Colliery — Both owned by Budd and Co. of Newport, which held Aberbeeg from 1902 to 1929 and Rock from about 1908.

Nearby mines

• Oakdale Colliery — 1.6 km NE
• Britannia Colliery, Pengam — 1.9 km W
• Wyllie Colliery — 2.4 km SE
• Llanbradach Colliery — 3.4 km SW
• Bargoed Colliery — 3.5 km NW

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

People

• Felix S. Budd · official, 1933 — Chairman of Budds Blackwood Collieries Ltd in 1933.
• John Jenkins · manager, 1933–1937 — Manager of Rock Colliery for Budds Blackwood Collieries Ltd, of Rock Cottage, Blackwood.

What's uncertain

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

• The Rock was opened as a level in the early 1800s and is mentioned in the Royal Commission report of 1842, when the owners were the Rock Colliery Company; its shaft was sunk in the late 1880s and used only for raising coal. (disputed) ¹
• Rock Colliery worked from 1878 to 1957. (disputed) ²

Recorded claims

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

• The Rock was opened as a level in the early 1800s and is mentioned in the Royal Commission report of 1842, when the owners were the Rock Colliery Company; its shaft was sunk in the late 1880s and used only for raising coal. (disputed) ¹
• Rock Colliery worked from 1878 to 1957. (disputed) ²
• Lewis Lewis and Sons owned it in 1896 with 46 men; Budd and Co. had it by 1908 with 182 men, 190 worked the Mynyddislwyn seams at its peak in 1916, and 86 were employed in 1945; it closed in 1957. ¹
• The 1933 Colliery Year Book lists Rock (Blackwood) under Budds Blackwood Collieries Ltd, managed by John Jenkins, with 181 men underground and 24 on the surface, working the Mynyddislwyn seam with steam power. ³
• The Llanarth Tramroad ran up the valley from Ynysddu to Penllwyn Colliery, Pontllanfraith, and Rock Colliery, Blackwood. ⁴

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Budds Rock Colliery, Blackwood — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (secondary) Upper Sirhowy Valley Community Woodlands: history — Caerphilly County Borough Council
3. (secondary) Budds Blackwood Collieries Ltd. — Durham Mining Museum
4. (secondary) The Southern Sirhowy Valley: Industrial Archaeology and History — Industrial Gwent

Record created: 19 September 2026 · Last researched: 19 September 2026