Varteg Hill Colliery

Overview

John Vipond's colliery on the ridge above the Afon Lwyd, worked from the 1860s to nationalisation and served by three miles of railway, a zig-zag of five reverses and an incline down to Cwmavon. Opencasting buried most of it; the tips are still there.

History

Varteg Hill was the second centre of John Vipond's operations in the Eastern Valley. Vipond had come down from Cheshire by way of the Midland coalfield and opened his Rock Vein Colliery in the area in 1840; the Varteg Hill workings followed, and the company that bore his name held them for the rest of their working life — Jno. Vipond and Company from the 1860s, J. Vipond and Company Limited into the 1940s, and the National Coal Board from 1947. It grew enormously. The Lists of Mines give 56 employed in 1896 and 685 by 1905, 883 in 1910 and 818 in 1915, peaking at 1,088 in 1923 before the interwar collapse cut it to 371 in 1933; it was back to 609 by 1940. It worked the Jack and Ball Mine seams in the 1890s — coal and ironstone together — and by 1905 the Big, Elled, Meadow, Old Coal, Rock and Three Quarter. The transport was the striking part. A branch three miles long ran from the London and North Western Railway at Blaenavon Junction to the Varteg Hill Top Pits. A zig-zag railway of five reverses linked Varteg Hill to the Lower Varteg Colliery in the Cwm Ffrwd valley, built before 1917. Vipond's incline ran from the colliery down to the Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company's line at Cwmavon, crossed a hundred yards below its head by the first stage of the zig-zag. At nationalisation Varteg Hill was merged with Deakins Slope.

Geology

The colliery worked the seams of the eastern rim of the South Wales coalfield on the ridge between Blaenavon and the Afon Lwyd. The Jack and Ball Mine of the 1890s returns are ironstone measures as much as coal; by 1905 the colliery was on the Big, Elled, Meadow, Old Coal, Rock and Three Quarter seams, and on the Yard by 1915.

Geological setting: Sedimentary Beds and Seams (well documented example)

Workings

A group of workings rather than one pit: the Top Pits at the head of the railway branch, and to the north along a tramway the Mine Slope, the New Slope — originally Varteg Slope — and Waun Hoskins Slope. A branch from the New Slope ran up an incline to a ventilating fan set over an old trial shaft.

Closure

Merged with Deakins Slope by the National Coal Board at nationalisation in 1947. No final closure date for the merged working was established.

What remains

Mostly buried. The Mine Slope, New Slope and Waun Hoskins Slope were all taken by opencast working. At the place known as The Lighthouse there are foundations, pits and walls with extensive multi-coloured tips — the remains of the washery and engine sheds that served the mines around. The top end of the incline to the ventilating fan survives, and so do a small reservoir and the fan's earthworks with a short, solid incline embankment below. The railway trackbed is a well-established track walkable from the Varteg Road.

Foundations, pits and walls at The Lighthouse with the washery and engine shed tips; the head of the ventilating fan incline; the fan earthworks, its embankment and a small reservoir; the trackbed of the railway branch and of Vipond's incline.

Redevelopment

Opencast coal working over most of the site.

Nearby mines

• Blaenserchan Colliery — 2.6 km S
• Cinder Pits — 2.8 km N
• Forge Slope Colliery — 3.2 km NW
• Blaenavon Ironworks — 3.3 km N
• Big Pit — 3.4 km NW

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.

• The colliery was owned by J. Vipond and Company Limited. The Lists of Mines give 56 employed in 1896, 685 in 1905, 883 in 1910, 818 in 1915, 1,088 in 1923, 371 in 1933 and 609 in 1940; it worked the Jack and Ball Mine seams in the 1890s and the Big, Elled, Meadow, Old Coal, Rock and Three Quarter from 1905, with the Yard by 1915. ¹
• Varteg was one of the two centres of John Vipond's operations, based around a branch three miles long from the London and North Western Railway at Blaenavon Junction to the Varteg Hill Colliery Top Pits; the trackbed is now a well-established track easily followed from the Varteg Road. ²
• A zig-zag railway of five reverses linked Varteg Hill Colliery to Lower Varteg Colliery. It was built before 1917, originally starting with a tight loop later changed to another reverse. Vipond's incline ran from the colliery down to the Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company's line at Cwmavon, and a hundred yards below the top of the incline the first stage of the zig-zag crossed it on the way down to Talywain. ²
• The area known as The Lighthouse has foundations, pits and walls with extensive multi-coloured tips, the remains of the washery and engine sheds that served the mines of the area. To the north along a long tramway were the Mine Slope, the New Slope — originally Varteg Slope — and Waun Hoskins Slope, all buried by opencast workings. A branch from the New Slope ran up an incline to a ventilating fan on an old trial shaft, and the top end of that incline survives along with a small reservoir and the fan's earthworks. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Varteg Hill Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (observational) North and West Abersychan: the industrial archaeology and history — Varteg — Industrial Gwent

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