Talwrn Colliery

Overview

A small Coedpoeth colliery west of Wrexham. On the morning of 21 August 1857 firedamp exploded in its No. 2 pit with twenty-four men below; twelve got out, four were killed and the rest were burnt. The shock killed a horse in the adjoining No. 3.

History

Talwrn was one of the Coedpoeth pits, in a village that had been working coal since at least 1790. It was owned by a Mr Burton in 1857, by Burton and Burton in 1868 and by R. O. and I. Burton in 1869. By 1880 it was returned as Coedpoeth, Talwrn, Wrexham, under the Vron Colliery Company, which the Inspector of Mines list of 1896 confirms — twenty-nine men underground and nine at surface under the manager John Griffiths. The Lists of Mines give ninety-nine employed in 1894, thirty-five in 1896 and 106 in 1900. By 1908 the Old Talwrn colliery was owned by R. Allison Brown and Company. Its worst day was 21 August 1857. At nine in the morning firedamp exploded in the No. 2 pit with twenty-four men known to be working in it. The shock was great enough to kill a horse in the No. 3 pit next door, which had a direct communication with it. Twelve of the twenty-four escaped; four were found killed on the spot, five were badly burnt and three less so. Neither the men nor the chartermasters could tell the newspaper how it had happened. The dead were David Jones of Coedpoeth, who left a wife and nine children; Robert Rogers, a wife and three children; William Jones, a wife and one child; and James Lloyd, a wife and one child. Among the burnt were John Rogers, a boy of sixteen with serious burns to his face, both hands and an elbow, and Samuel Jones, aged thirteen, with a wound to the scalp and a severe blow to the abdomen, in a very precarious condition. The inquest a week later returned a verdict of accident. The government inspector, Peter Higson, was dissatisfied with the result but felt it was not for him to dictate to the jury. Fire broke out at the colliery again on 1 July 1868.

Geology

The colliery worked the Denbighshire coalfield at Coedpoeth, west of Wrexham. Neither source names the seams, which is a real gap; the pits of this village were shallow — Coedpoeth's No. 7 pit of 1790 went 120 feet — and firedamp was clearly present in quantity by 1857.

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

Workings

Several pits, of which No. 2 and No. 3 had a direct communication underground: the explosion in No. 2 in 1857 killed a horse working in No. 3. An Old Talwrn colliery is returned separately by 1908, and the Pentrefron pit at Coedpoeth was also known as the Old Talwrn.

Closure

No closure date was established. The colliery is returned in 1908 under R. Allison Brown and Company and does not appear in the sources read after that.

What remains

No account of the site as it is now was found in the sources read.

No account of surviving remains was found in the sources read.

Redevelopment

Not established.

Related mines

• Vron Colliery — Both were held by the Vron Colliery Company: Talwrn is returned under it from 1880 and in the Inspector's list of 1896, and Vron was the company's own pit at Tanyfron.

Nearby mines

• Brymbo Colliery — 0.9 km N
• Vron Colliery — 0.9 km N
• Minera Lead Mines — 1.3 km SW
• Plas Power Colliery — 1.3 km E
• Broughton Colliery — 1.8 km E

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.

• On the morning of Friday 21 August 1857 a fearful explosion of firedamp took place at the No. 2 pit of the Talwrn Colliery Works, Coedpoeth, near Wrexham, at nine o'clock, with twenty-four men known to be working down that one pit alone. The shock was so great that it killed a horse employed in the No. 3 pit, which had a direct communication with it. Twelve of the twenty-four escaped; four were found killed on the spot, five were badly burnt and three less so. Neither the men nor the chartermasters could say how it had happened. ¹
• The dead were David Jones of Coedpoeth, who left a wife and nine children; Robert Rogers, a wife and three children; William Jones, a wife and one child; and James Lloyd, a wife and one child. Among the injured were John Rogers, a boy of sixteen, with serious burns to his face, both hands and an elbow, and Samuel Jones, aged thirteen, with a contused scalp wound and a severe blow to the abdomen, in a very precarious condition. ^2,1
• The inquest on 29 August 1857 returned a verdict of accident; the government inspector Peter Higson was dissatisfied with the result but felt it was not for him to dictate to the jury. ²
• The colliery was owned by Mr Burton in 1857, by Burton and Burton in 1868 and by R. O. and I. Burton in 1869; by 1880 it was returned under the Vron Colliery Company, which the 1896 Inspector's list confirms with twenty-nine men underground and nine at surface under the manager John Griffiths. The Lists of Mines give ninety-nine employed in 1894, thirty-five in 1896 and 106 in 1900. By 1908 the Old Talwrn colliery was owned by R. Allison Brown and Company. ^2,3
• On 1 July 1868 a fire broke out at the Talwrn colliery of Coedpoeth, then owned by Messrs Burton and Burton. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Dreadful and Fatal Accident at the Talwrn Colliery, near Wrexham — Four Lives Lost, 22 August 1857 — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Gatewen, Vron, Broughton and Coedpoeth collieries — Welsh Coal Mines
3. (secondary) Talwrn Colliery — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 10 September 2026 · Last researched: 10 September 2026