Upper Bank Pit

Overview

A short-lived Foxhole Collieries pit near Llansamlet, opened in 1904, where about 150 men escaped when water burst into a level in November 1905; flooded again, gutted by fire and abandoned in 1908.

History

Upper Bank Pit, near Llansamlet in Swansea, was opened in 1904 by Foxhole Collieries Ltd, which struck a two-foot seam at 35 yards on 17 June that year. It employed 115 men underground and 14 on the surface in 1905.

Shortly before midday on Monday 27 November 1905 water broke into No. 2 East Level, where Griffith Williams, his son and a boy, Thomas Morgan, were working; they were swept off their feet and carried into the roadway, and the water ran on through the level carrying props and trams with it. About 150 men were below. Those in No. 3 East and West Levels were warned in time and escaped by the airway, and by a quarter past twelve all but Thomas Morgan were on the surface. A party went back through water waist deep, expecting to find him dead, and found him unhurt in a tram that had been washed into the timbers. The manager, J. Hopkins, and the under-manager, David A. Jones, were praised for their coolness in directing the rescue.

Water broke in again in January 1906. Lewis Thomas, a collier of 48, was killed by a fall of stone in September 1907, and in 1908 a fire gutted the surface offices and storehouse. Employment rose to 157 underground in 1907 but fell to 72 in 1908, and the pit was abandoned on 12 December 1908; the receiver sold the colliery and plant to John Clement for £600 in January 1909, and the company moved its operations to near Landore Viaduct.

Geology

A two-foot seam struck at 35 yards; the abandonment plan names the Swansea Two-Feet and Six-Feet seams.

Workings

Levels including No. 2 East and No. 3 East and West, with an airway that served as the escape route in 1905.

Closure

Abandoned on 12 December 1908 after two inrushes of water and a surface fire; the plant was sold by the receiver in January 1909.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Recorded claims

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

• Opened in 1904 by Foxhole Collieries Ltd, which struck a two-foot vein at 35 yards on 17 June 1904. ¹
• On 27 November 1905 water broke into No. 2 East Level with about 150 men below; no lives were lost. ^1,2
• The boy Thomas Morgan, missing after the flood, was found unhurt in a tram washed into the timbers. ²
• A fire in 1908 gutted the surface offices and a storehouse. ¹
• The pit was abandoned on 12 December 1908 and the plant sold by the receiver for £600 in January 1909. ¹
• An abandonment plan covers Upper Bank and Landore in the Swansea Two-Feet and Six-Feet seams. ³

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Mynydd Newydd Colliery — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (primary) Evening Express, 28 November 1905: Colliery flooded. Miraculous escapes near Llansamlet — National Library of Wales, Welsh Newspapers
3. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: UPPER BANK / LANDORE, Swansea Two Feet and Six Feet seams — British Geological Survey

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