Tylechafach Colliery

Overview

A Tonyrefail level, opened in 1874 and one of the very few collieries to work the Ty Du seam, which was 48 inches thick here. It grew from 58 men in 1907 to 397 in 1915 under the Welsh Navigation Steam Coal Company, and abandoned the Ty Du seam in 1930 with 29 men left.

History

Tylechafach was opened in 1874 by Hugh Begg as a small level on the eastern side of the Ely valley at Tonyrefail, and Begg was still its manager in 1878. The Tylchafach Colliery Company held it in 1877-79 and the Tylchafach Coal Company in 1880. What set it apart was the seam: it was one of the very few collieries to work the Ty Du, which ran 48 inches thick in this part of the valley. By 1907-08 it employed 58 men and belonged to the Welsh Navigation Steam Coal Company of Llantrisant, with Griffith Jones managing it from 1908 to 1913. Manpower then climbed steeply: 397 men in 1915 under S. Davies, 273 in 1916, no return at all in 1917, then 322 in 1918 and 292 in 1919. In 1923 it employed 321 underground and 35 on the surface with Thomas John as manager. The fall was as sharp as the rise — 38 men by 1927 under W. Griffiths — and the Ty Du seam was abandoned in 1930, when 29 men were left. A collier, David Davies, aged 49, died of a fall of roof at the face in September 1913.

Geology

The Ty Du seam, 48 inches thick in this part of the Ely valley, worked from a level rather than a shaft.

Workings

A level (slant) into the Ty Du seam; no shaft depth is recorded in the sources read.

Closure

The Ty Du seam was abandoned in 1930, when the colliery employed 29 men.

What remains

Unknown. Nothing on the site's present state was found in the sources read; the surviving buildings recorded nearby at Tylcha Fach are the level's winding and haulage houses, since converted to houses.

Rhondda Cynon Taf's heritage trail reproduces a 1928 photograph of the Tylcha Fach level winding house at Nantmelin; buildings of the level, including its haulage house, are described as having been saved and converted into houses set back from Nant Melyn Road.

Redevelopment

None recorded in the sources read.

Nearby mines

• Coedely Colliery — 1.7 km N
• Glyn Colliery, Tonyrefail — 2.3 km S
• Cilely Colliery — 2.8 km N
• Dinas Isha Colliery — 3.0 km N
• Cymmer Colliery — 4.4 km N

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.

• Tylechafach was opened in 1874 by Hugh Begg and was one of the very few collieries to work the Ty Du seam, 48 inches thick in this area. ¹
• It employed 58 men in 1907-08 under the Welsh Navigation Steam Coal Company of Llantrisant, 397 men in 1915, 321 underground and 35 on the surface in 1923, and 29 when the Ty Du seam was abandoned in 1930. ¹
• On 14 September 1913 David Davies, a 49-year-old collier at Tylcha Fach Level, Tonyrefail, was caught by a fall of roof at the face and died on the 21st. ²
• Rhondda Cynon Taf's heritage trail records a 1928 photograph of the Tylcha Fach level winding house at Nantmelin, and surviving level buildings converted into houses off Nant Melyn Road. ³

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Small Collieries of the Ely valley and surroundings — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Welsh coal mining fatalities, 1913 — Welsh Coal Mines
3. (secondary) Tonyrefail (Rhondda Cynon Taf heritage trail) — Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council

Record created: 14 September 2026 · Last researched: 17 September 2026