Waunllwyd Colliery

History

The Ebbw Vale Steel, Iron and Coal Company sank Waunllwyd's No. 2 and No. 3 shafts between 1874 and 1876, the No. 2 a downcast 268 yards deep and the No. 3 an upcast of 269 yards; a third shaft, the No. 1 downcast of 272 yards, followed in 1897 and was 20 feet in diameter; the Northern Mine Research Society has all three shafts sunk in 1874-76. The No. 1 struck the Four-Feet seam at 155 yards and the Five-Feet or Gellideg at 255, and its winding engine, with 36-inch cylinders, could raise 700 tons a shift. An agreement to carry the colliery's coal was made with the railway company on 25 June 1877, and a 24-foot Walker fan was installed in 1896.

On 22 September 1879 a fire broke out near the underground stables, killing three men and sixteen horses (see Disasters, below). Welsh Coal Mines notes that these are three of many fatal accidents reported at the colliery over its life; the Northern Mine Research Society records others, among them Samuel Tippins, a repairer of 66 who tripped over a hauling rope in 1894 and died of the abscess that followed, and William Golding Ham, a collier's assistant of 20 killed by a fall of side in 1913.

In 1896 a workforce of 951 worked the Three Quarters, Big Vein and Elled seams under the manager T. Jones. Output was 252,249 tons in 1889 and 346,266 in 1894, and manpower climbed through the 1900s to 1,903 by 1908, 2,509 in 1913 and 2,365 by 1918, as the company doubled output at its two newest pits, Waunllwyd and Marine. A list of 1923 records 1,977 at work, raising coal and ironstone from the Old Coal and Meadow Vein in the No. 1 pit and the Elled, Big Vein and Three Quarter in the No. 2. Partridge Jones and John Paton and Company became the owners in 1935; 1,123 were employed in 1938 and 758 in 1945. On nationalisation in January 1947 the colliery went into the National Coal Board's South Western Division, No. 6 (Monmouthshire) Area, with 597 men underground and 112 on the surface.

The Coal Board made the colliery the site of a central workshop and a coal depot and put conveyors on faces that had been worked by heading and stall. By 1958 it was working the Meadow and Black Veins from the No. 1 pit and the Black Vein from the No. 2, every other seam being exhausted, and pumping 120,000 gallons of water a day; 479 men were employed in 1961, when it was grouped with Marine, Llanhilleth and Six Bells. In 1962 red dust from the neighbouring steelworks was fouling the air drawn into the pit. Its coals were prime coking coals. It closed on 30 December 1963 and its remaining reserves were given to Marine.

Geology

Coal and ironstone of the eastern South Wales coalfield: the Three Quarter, Big Vein and Elled seams worked from the 1890s, with the Old Coal and Meadow Vein raised from the No. 1 pit by the 1920s. The No. 1 pit struck the Four-Feet seam at 155 yards and the Five-Feet or Gellideg, in two leaves of 24 and 29 inches, at 255 yards; the coals were prime coking coals.

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

Workings

Three shafts: No. 2 downcast, 268 yards, and No. 3 upcast, 269 yards and 15 feet in diameter, sunk 1874-76, and No. 1 downcast, 20 feet in diameter and 272 yards deep, sunk in 1897. A 24-foot Walker fan ventilated the pit from 1896. Worked by heading and stall until the Coal Board introduced face conveyors. The workings were integrated with those of the Marine colliery in 1964.

Closure

The colliery closed on 30 December 1963, with every seam but the Meadow Vein and Black Vein exhausted, and its remaining reserves were allocated to Marine; it was effectively closed when it was integrated with the Marine colliery in 1964, its workings being taken into that pit rather than abandoned.

Related mines

• Marine Colliery — Waunllwyd's workings were integrated with the Marine colliery in 1964, which effectively closed it.

Disasters & major incidents

• Waunllwyd Colliery stable fire, 1879
  22 September 1879 · Fire · 3 fatalities
  On 22 September 1879 a fire broke out near the underground stables at Waunllwyd Colliery, Ebbw Vale, and three men died; one horse was brought out alive.

What's uncertain

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

• Waunlwyd closed in 1964. (disputed) ³
• All three shafts were sunk between 1874 and 1876. (disputed) ²

Recorded claims

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

• The Ebbw Vale Steel, Iron and Coal Company sank the No. 2 and No. 3 shafts between 1874 and 1876, 268 and 269 yards deep, and added the No. 1 downcast of 272 yards in 1897. ^1,2
• An underground fire near the stables on 22 September 1879 killed John Jones, a fireman, and the ostlers William Griffiths senior and junior, father and son, together with sixteen horses; an air door left open to clear gas was accidentally closed, sending the gas to the naked lights at the stables. ¹
• The colliery employed 951 men in 1896 and 1,903 by 1908, reaching 2,365 in 1918 and 1,977 in 1923, when it raised coal and ironstone from the Old Coal and Meadow Vein and the Elled, Big Vein and Three Quarter seams. ^1,2
• Partridge Jones and John Paton and Company became the owners in 1935, and on nationalisation in January 1947 the colliery went into the National Coal Board's No. 6 (Monmouthshire) Area with 597 men underground and 112 on the surface. ^1,2
• Waunllwyd was effectively closed when its workings were integrated with the Marine colliery in 1964. ¹
• Waunlwyd Colliery was closed on 30 December 1963 and its remaining reserves were allocated to Marine Colliery. ²
• Waunlwyd closed in 1964. (disputed) ³
• The No. 1 pit struck the Four-Feet seam at 155 yards and the Five-Feet or Gellideg seam at 255 yards; the No. 3 pit was 15 feet in diameter. ²
• All three shafts were sunk between 1874 and 1876. (disputed) ²
• In 1958 the colliery worked the Meadow and Black Veins, all other seams being exhausted; it employed 479 men in 1961 and in 1962 suffered red dust from the steelworks in its ventilation. ²
• The Ebbw Vale company sank Waunlwyd in 1874-77 and Marine in 1889-91, and doubled output at both in the early twentieth century. ³
• The British Geological Survey catalogues plans of Waunllwyd Nos 1, 2 and 3 pits in the Five Feet or Gellideg (Old Coal) and Upper Six Feet seams. ⁴

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Waunllwyd Ebbw Vale (Welsh Coal Mines, via the Internet Archive) — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (secondary) Waunlwyd Colliery — Northern Mine Research Society (Internet Archive)
3. (secondary) The Ebbw Vale Steel, Iron & Coal Company — Amgueddfa Cymru - Museum Wales
4. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority abandonment plans: WAUNLLWYD NOS 1, 2 & 3 POCHIN — British Geological Survey

Record created: 20 September 2026 · Last researched: 1 October 2026