Ton Phillip Colliery

Overview

Slant mines north of Kenfig Hill, near Tondu, driven in the late 1890s into the No. 3 Rhondda seam; with its sister slant Tytalwyn it employed 767 men in 1918, and it was finally abandoned in the 1940s.

History

Ton Phillip Colliery lay north of Kenfig Hill, near Tondu, in the community of Llangynwyd Lower. The Ton Phillip Rhondda Colliery Company drove it in the late 1890s as slants into the No. 3 Rhondda seam, known here as the Rock Fawr and 31 to 48 inches thick, beside its sister slant Tytalwyn. The take covered 1,480 acres, between the North's Navigation and Park Slip workings to the east and Baldwins' Aberbaiden to the west. The Ordnance Survey of 1919 shows Ton Phillip No. 1 and No. 2 a short way apart, each with a tramway running south.

The slants grew quickly. Output rose from 54,000 tons in 1902 to more than 230,000 tons in 1916 and 1917, and in 1918 Ton Phillip and Tytalwyn together employed 767 men under J. Hillary; Esiah Morgan had managed both in 1908 and C. E. Tapson in 1916. In 1923 the combined slants were producing gas and manufacturing coal and fireclay from the Rock Fawr.

Baldwins Ltd bought the colliery, and abandoned the Tynewydd slant in November 1923. The company's creditors were called together in January 1929, and that year the colliery, then held by the Coytrahen Park Colliery Company in liquidation, was closed, its Rock Fawr and Malthouse workings abandoned. T. J. David of Porthcawl had it by 1932 and worked it with about a dozen men in the late 1930s, producing 5,500 tons of gas and house coal in 1935. The Rock Fawr was abandoned for the last time in 1944; NMRS gives the final abandonment as 1945.

Geology

South Wales coalfield: the No. 3 Rhondda seam (Rock Fawr), 31 to 48 inches thick, with fireclay; the Malthouse seam also appears on the 1929 abandonment plan.

Workings

Slants into the Rock Fawr, Ton Phillip No. 1 and No. 2, worked with the neighbouring Tytalwyn and Tynewydd slants; tramways ran south from both Ton Phillip slants.

Closure

Closed in 1929 under the Coytrahen Park Colliery Company, in liquidation; reworked on a small scale by T. J. David in the 1930s and abandoned in 1944 or 1945.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Aberbaiden Colliery — Both owned by Baldwins Ltd; Aberbaiden's take adjoined Ton Phillip's on the west.

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 Fawr seam at Ton Phillip was abandoned in 1944. (disputed) ⁴
• Abandoned in 1945. (disputed) ²

Recorded claims

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

• Opened in the late 1890s by the Ton Phillip Rhondda Colliery Company to work the No. 3 Rhondda seam. ^1,2
• Ton Phillip and Tytalwyn employed 767 men together in 1918. ^1,2
• Ton Phillip No. 1 and No. 2 are shown on the 1919 Ordnance Survey with tramways; No. 2 is shown disused by 1942. ³
• The Rock Fawr seam at Ton Phillip was abandoned in 1944. (disputed) ⁴
• Abandoned in 1945. (disputed) ²
• Produced 5,500 tons of gas and house coal in 1935 under T. J. David of Porthcawl. ^1,2

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Aberbaiden colliery - Welsh Coal Mines — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (secondary) Ton Phillip Colliery — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (primary) Ton Phillip Colliery (NPRN 418631) — Coflein (RCAHMW)
4. (primary) BGS mine plans: Ton Phillip, Rock Fawr, 1944 — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority
5. (primary) BGS mine plans: Ton Phillip, Tynewydd, Tytalwyn, Rock Fawr & Malthouse, 1929 — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority

Record created: 7 October 2026 · Last researched: 7 October 2026