Voilart Colliery

Overview

A small colliery at Dunvant on the western edge of Swansea, worked in the 1870s by W. and T. Evans's Tyr Glandŵr Coal Company, given railway sidings on the LNWR Swansea line in 1877, and gone by 1900.

History

Voilart Colliery — also spelled Voylart — lay at Dunvant, between Dunvant and Killay on the London and North Western Railway's line west of Swansea. It was worked between 1871 and 1877 by W. and T. Evans, who traded as the Tyr Glandŵr Coal Company and also worked Tyr Glandŵr Colliery at Landore. On 30 October 1877 the railway company made an agreement with Voylart Colliery for sidings for a new colliery between Dunvant and Killay stations; the agreement, with correspondence and a plan, survives in the West Glamorgan Archive Service. The official list of collieries at work in 1880 still returns Voilart under the Tyr Glandŵr Coal Company, later than the 1877 end date given for the Evanses' working. A brickfield with two kilns lay just west of the colliery on the 1877 map; by 1900 the colliery had gone and the brickworks was marked disused, though an old brickworks was still shown in 1948. In 1898 the Dunvant colliery owner Philip Richard extended his taking with a lease of coal under Voilart, worked from his Dunvant slant until it closed after his bankruptcy in 1908.

Geology

Unknown.

Workings

Rail-connected to the London and North Western Railway's Swansea line by sidings agreed in 1877; no description of its shafts or levels survives.

Closure

Gone by 1900, when the neighbouring brickworks was also marked disused. Coal under Voilart was leased in 1898 to Philip Richard and worked from his Dunvant slant, which closed in 1908.

What remains

Unknown.

Unknown.

Nearby mines

• Killan Colliery — 1.0 km NW
• Elba Colliery — 3.3 km NW
• Wernbwll Colliery — 3.3 km W
• Garngoch Colliery — 3.9 km NE
• Berthlwyd Colliery — 4.0 km NW

Straight-line distance, within 15 km. Show on the map.

People

• Philip Richard (1844–1912) · lessee, from 1898 — Took a lease of coal under Voilart in 1898 to extend his Dunvant colliery's taking.

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 Clyne Valley Community Project dates the Evanses' working to 1871-1877, but the 1880 official list still returns the colliery under their company. (disputed) ^2,1

Recorded claims

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

• W. and T. Evans, trading as the Tyr Glandŵr Coal Co, worked the Voylart colliery at Dunvant between 1871 and 1877, and Tyr Glandŵr colliery at Landore from about 1868 to 1881. ¹
• The official list of collieries at work in 1880 returns 'Voilart, Swansea, Tyr Glandwr Coal Co.' ²
• The Clyne Valley Community Project dates the Evanses' working to 1871-1877, but the 1880 official list still returns the colliery under their company. (disputed) ^2,1
• On 30 October 1877 the London and North Western Railway Company made an agreement with Voylart Colliery, Dunvant, for sidings for a new colliery between Dunvant and Killay stations (West Glamorgan Archive Service, D/D PRO/BRB 355). ³
• The 1877 map shows two brick kilns in a brickfield west of Voilart Colliery; by 1900 the colliery had gone and the brickworks was marked disused. ⁴
• In 1898 Philip Richard extended his Dunvant taking with a lease of coal under Voilart. ⁵

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Rhydydefaid No 1 Pit — Clyne Valley Community Project
2. (secondary) List of coal mines UK 1880 — Coalmining History Resource Centre
3. (primary) Agreement between Midland Railway Company and Thomas Richardson White of Fountain Hall, Ystalyfera for sidings at Boundary Level Colliery near Glais; with plan. 10 Jul 1882 (D/D PRO/BRB 363) — West Glamorgan Archive Service, via Archives Hub
4. (secondary) The Brickworks of Wales – West Glamorgan (Voylart Brickworks, Dunvant) — Industrial Gwent
5. (secondary) Philip Richard II (1844–1912) — Clyne Valley Community Project

Record created: 6 September 2026 · Last researched: 17 September 2026