Tirdonkin Colliery

Overview

A deep steam-coal colliery at Llangyfelach near Swansea, sunk from 1902 with two shafts over 300 yards deep, which employed 770 men in 1927 and was given up in 1928 when a neighbouring pit's closure left it open to flooding.

History

Tirdonkin Colliery, at Llangyfelach north of Swansea, was sunk from 1902 with two shafts, Gwladys, 310 yards deep, and Charles, 307 yards, to the Four-Feet seam. The Four-Feet was abandoned in April 1904 and work moved to the Five-Feet, which was itself abandoned in March 1909. The neighbouring Cefngyfelach Colliery, linked to it underground, came into the same ownership in 1903.

It employed 393 men in 1907 and 337 in 1913-16, working the Swansea Five-Feet seam at 54 inches for steam and manufacturing coals under the manager D. Howell. In 1913, 1917 and 1921 it was listed as belonging to Tirdonkin Collieries Ltd of Swansea, which stayed outside the Monmouthshire and South Wales Coal Owners' Association. By 1923 it belonged to the Tirdonkin Merthyr Company and employed 588 men underground and 172 on the surface, raising steam coal from the Three-Feet and Six-Feet seams; in 1927 there were 770 men under F. Hargreaves.

Falls of roof and stone took most of the lives lost there, among them David John in 1926, whose father pulled him clear of one fall before a second struck him. The Three-Feet seam was abandoned in June 1928, when the closure of the neighbouring Callands Pit left Tirdonkin open to flooding.

Geology

The Swansea Four-Feet, Five-Feet (54 in), Three-Feet and Six-Feet seams.

Workings

Two shafts, Gwladys (310 yards) and Charles (307 yards); linked underground to Cefngyfelach Colliery.

Closure

The Four-Feet was abandoned in April 1904 and the Five-Feet in March 1909; the Three-Feet was abandoned in June 1928, when the closure of Callands Pit left the colliery open to flooding.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Callands Pit — Tirdonkin abandoned its Three-Feet seam in June 1928 when the closure of Callands left it open to flooding.
• Cefngyfelach Colliery — The same company from 1903; Cefngyfelach was linked to Tirdonkin underground.

Recorded claims

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

• Sinking began in 1902; the Gwladys shaft was 310 yards deep and the Charles 307 yards, to the Four-Feet seam. ^1,2
• The Four-Feet seam was abandoned in April 1904. ^1,3
• The Five-Feet seam was abandoned in March 1909. ^1,4
• It employed 393 men in 1907, 760 in 1923 and 770 in 1927. ¹
• The Three-Feet seam was abandoned in June 1928, when the closure of Callands Pit left the colliery open to flooding. ^1,5
• The NMRS database records deaths at Tirdonkin from 1905 to 1927, including John Rees (1905), David O. Davies (1907), David John (1926) and Thomas L. John and Herbert Taylor (1927). ⁶

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Cribwr Fawr — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: TIRDONKIN / CHARLES / GLADYS, abandoned 1911 — British Geological Survey
3. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: TIRDONKIN, Four Feet seam, abandoned 1904 — British Geological Survey
4. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: TIRDONKIN OR TIRDONKIN MERTHYR, Five Feet seam, abandoned 1909 — British Geological Survey
5. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: TIRDONKIN OR TIRDONKIN MERTHYR, Six Feet, Three Feet and shaft section, abandoned 1928 — British Geological Survey
6. (secondary) NMRS coal mining accidents and deaths database: Coytrahén Park, Tondu — Northern Mine Research Society

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