Tylecoch Colliery

Overview

One of the first collieries in the upper Rhondda Fawr, sunk at Treorchy from 1854, which went through bankruptcy and a string of owners and closures before United National Collieries reopened it with Abergorky in 1917.

History

Tylecoch Colliery at Treorchy was begun in 1854 by Carr, Morrison and Company, who found the Upper Four Feet seam at 154 yards; it is also listed as opening in 1855. While the shaft was being walled on 5 February 1857 a cartload of bricks was tipped down it, killing three masons. The company went bankrupt in 1858.

Thomas Jones bought it in 1865 and deepened it another 80 yards to the Lower Four Feet. The Tylacoch Coal Company held it from 1877, with T. G. Davies as manager in 1878, until David Jones bought it; he sold it to Thomas and Evans in 1883, who closed it in 1886. The Phoenix Coal Company reopened and worked it until 1891, when the Marquis of Bute bought it and closed it again in 1892. The Taff Vale Railway served it with sidings for 63 full and 121 empty wagons, but by 1897 the junction had been taken up.

United National Collieries Ltd reopened and deepened it in 1917 and worked it with the Abergorky Nos. 1 and 3 pits and the Abergorky Level; in 1935 that combine employed 119 men on the surface and 641 underground. It is listed as closing in 1930.

Geology

Coal Measures of the South Wales Coalfield. The shaft found the Upper Four Feet at 154 yards and was deepened about 80 yards further to the Lower Four Feet.

Workings

A shaft sunk from 1854 to the Upper Four Feet at 154 yards, deepened by 80 yards to the Lower Four Feet after 1865 and deepened again from 1917, when it was worked with the Abergorky pits and level.

Closure

Closed in 1886 and again in 1892, reopened by United National Collieries in 1917, and listed as closing in 1930; employment for the Abergorky combine that included it is recorded in 1935.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Abergorki Colliery — United National Collieries reopened Tylecoch in 1917 and worked it together with the Abergorky pits and level.
• Cwmneol Colliery — Both were sunk by the same partnership, Carr, Morrison and Company: Cwmneol in 1848 and Tylecoch in 1854.

Disasters & major incidents

• Tylecoch Colliery shaft accident, 1857
  February 1857 · Winding / Shaft Accident · 3 fatalities
  Three masons walling the new Tylecoch shaft at Treorchy were killed in February 1857 when a load of bricks fell on them from the pit top.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• Opened in 1855 by J. Carr, Morrison and Co. (uncertain) ²
• Closed in 1930. (uncertain) ²

Recorded claims

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

• Started in 1854 by Carr, Morrison and Company, who found the Upper Four Feet at 154 yards. ¹
• Opened in 1855 by J. Carr, Morrison and Co. (uncertain) ²
• The company went bankrupt in 1858. ¹
• Sold to Thomas Jones in 1865, who deepened it by 80 yards to the Lower Four Feet. ¹
• Thomas and Evans closed it in 1886; the Phoenix Coal Company worked it until 1891, when the Marquis of Bute bought it and closed it again in 1892. ¹
• Reopened and deepened by United National Collieries Ltd in 1917 and worked with the Abergorky Nos. 1 and 3 pits and the Abergorky Level. ¹
• In 1935 the Tylecoch and Abergorky combine employed 119 men on the surface and 641 underground. ¹
• Closed in 1930. (uncertain) ²
• Recorded in the national monuments record as Tyle-Coch Colliery, at SS 95430 96770. ³

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Welsh Coal Mines: Tylecoch Colliery, Treorchy — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (secondary) List of collieries in the Rhondda Valleys — Wikipedia
3. (secondary) Tyle-Coch Colliery (NPRN 80500) — Coflein (RCAHMW)

Record created: 8 October 2026 · Last researched: 8 October 2026