Saron Colliery

Overview

An anthracite slant near Ammanford, begun by the Blaina Colliery Company in 1915 on the site of the old Blaenau colliery, which employed up to 384 men under Henderson's and the National Coal Board and closed in 1956.

History

Saron Colliery was one of several slants driven into the north crop of the anthracite coal measures near Ammanford. The Blaina Colliery Company cut its first sod in 1915, on the site of the old Blaenau colliery, which had worked from 1850 to 1893. By 1923 it employed 270 men working the Stanllyd, Little Vein and Middle Pumpquart seams. Henderson's Welsh Anthracite Collieries took it over in 1928.

A fall of roof buried and killed George Stevens, a haulier, at the end of 1925, and in 1935 Robert Sunderland was trapped by the arm under a stone, and a second fall came while his mate was away fetching help. Employment peaked at 384 in 1936 and was 345 in 1945. Under the National Coal Board a collier, C. P. Thomas, was killed in 1954 by a fall while a new conveyor face was being opened. Saron closed in 1956.

Geology

South Wales Coalfield, anthracite: the Stanllyd, Little Vein and Middle Pumpquart seams on the north crop.

Workings

A slant (drift) into the north crop.

Closure

Closed by the National Coal Board in 1956.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Blaenau Saron Colliery — Saron was opened in 1915 on the site of the old Blaenau colliery; the NMRS thinks the two probably the same working.
• Pantyffynnon Colliery — Ammanford anthracite slants of the Blaina Colliery Company.
• Park and Blaina Colliery — Both worked by the Blaina Colliery Company of Ammanford.

Recorded claims

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

• The Blaina Colliery Company started Saron in 1915 on the site of the old Blaenau colliery (1850-1893). ¹
• In 1923 it employed 270 men in the Stanllyd, Little Vein and Middle Pumpquart seams. ¹
• Henderson's Welsh Anthracite Collieries took it over in 1928 and owned it in 1935. ^1,2
• George Stevens, haulier, was buried by a fall of roof in 1925. ³
• In 1954 C. P. Thomas was killed by a fall of roof while a new conveyor face was being opened, under the National Coal Board. ⁴
• Saron closed in 1956. ¹

Sources

1. (secondary) Saron Colliery, Ammanford — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Robert Sunderland, Saron, 1935 — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: George Stevens, Saron, 1925 — Northern Mine Research Society
4. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: C. P. Thomas, Saron, 1954 — Northern Mine Research Society

Record created: 18 October 2026 · Last researched: 18 October 2026