Waen Nantyglo Colliery

Overview

A level between Nantyglo and Blaenavon, worked from about 1904 by T. & E. Williams and then by the Waen Nantyglo Colliery Company, which had six levels and over 700 men in the district. It employed 154 men underground in 1896 and closed in 1923 when the Elled and Big Vein seams were abandoned.

History

The level stood a little east of the tramway whose course later carried the B4248 Brynmawr to Blaenavon road, on the northern outcrop of the South Wales coalfield. Welsh Coal Mines dates the slant's opening to about 1904 under T. & E. Williams, with 40 men employed in 1908 including three on the surface; NMRS records the level at work earlier than that, employing 154 men underground and 14 on the surface in 1896 in the Bydelog seam, and 120 underground and 25 on the surface in 1900. The two accounts can both stand if the slant of about 1904 was a new working alongside an older level of the same name. J. Phillips managed it in 1896 and Sylvanus Jones in 1900. By 1907-08 W. Thomas was manager and 103 men worked underground in the Elled, Three Quarter and Big Vein seams with 23 on the surface, rising to 109 men in 1908 and 44 in 1911. The Waen Nantyglo Colliery Company Ltd — Evan Williams's company, founded in 1875, incorporated in 1911 and based in Cardiff — took the colliery over in 1913, by which time it controlled seven mines and employed 803 men; six of its levels worked the outcrop between Nantyglo and Blaenavon. The workforce was 77 men in 1918 and 80 in 1922. It closed in 1923 on the abandonment of the Elled and Big Vein seams, its remaining men moving to the company's other levels, and the railway connection was gone by 1925. In September 1901 a collier's boy of 16, Reginald Montague Johns, died here after slipping while carrying tools.

Geology

The northern outcrop of the South Wales coalfield: the Bydelog seam in the 1890s, and the Elled, Three Quarter and Big Vein seams by 1907-08.

Workings

A level, with a slant opened about 1904; one of six levels the Waen Nantyglo Colliery Company worked on the outcrop between Nantyglo and Blaenavon.

Closure

Closed in 1923 when the Elled and Big Vein seams were abandoned; the 33 men then employed were transferred to the company's other levels, and the railway connection had been removed by 1925.

What remains

Unknown.

Unknown.

Redevelopment

None recorded in the sources read.

Nearby mines

• Clydach Colliery, Brynmawr — 0.9 km NE
• Forge Colliery, Nantyglo — 1.1 km SE
• Duffryn Colliery, Brynmawr — 1.3 km NW
• Garn Colliery, Nantyglo — 1.5 km SE
• Cinder Pit, Blaina — 2.1 km SW

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.

• NMRS records the level employing 154 men underground and 14 on the surface in 1896 working the Bydelog seam, and 120 underground and 25 on the surface in 1900. ¹
• Welsh Coal Mines dates the slant's opening to about 1904 under T. & E. Williams, with 40 men employed in 1908 and 77 in 1918, and says the Waen Nantyglo Colliery Co. Ltd became owners in 1913. ²
• The colliery closed during 1923 when the Elled and Big Vein seams were abandoned and its remaining men were transferred to the company's other levels; the railway connection was removed by 1925. ^2,1
• On 4 September 1901 Reginald Montague Johns, a 16-year-old collier's boy at Waen Nantyglo, Llanelli Hill, slipped while carrying a bundle of tools; a mandril penetrated his neck and he died of the injuries. ³
• The Waen Nantyglo Colliery Company worked the outcrop seams between Nantyglo and Blaenavon from six small levels employing 703 men, and in 1913 controlled seven mines employing 803 men. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Small Collieries of the Ebbw Valley — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Blaennant, Llammarch, Clydach and Waun Afon collieries — Welsh Coal Mines
3. (secondary) Welsh coal mining fatalities, 1901 — Welsh Coal Mines

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