Wern Colliery, Cwmafan

Location	Cwmafan, Neath Port Talbot — 51.6376, -3.7889 (approximate)
Commodity	Coal
Type	Coal
Worked	1811–Unknown.
Maximum depth	Unknown — a drift level driven into the hillside, not a shaft.
Operators	Governor and Company of Copper Miners in England

Overview

A drift level at Cwm Avon, part of the Governor and Company of Copper Miners' vast integrated iron, copper, coal and tin-plate works, opened in 1811. A collier working by naked candle instead of a safety lamp triggered a firedamp explosion here in December 1844 that killed four men (see Disasters, below).

History

Wern Colliery was a level driven into the mountainside at Cwm Avon, near Cwmafan, opened in 1811. It was one of several coal levels worked to supply the vast integrated works of the Governor and Company of Copper Miners in England, whose Cwm Avon Works combined iron, copper-smelting, coal and tin-plate production and employed about 2,000 people. As with most levels driven into these South Wales hillsides rather than sunk as shafts, coal was brought out along a horse-drawn tram-road (the "horse-way"), with a parallel "air-way" above it for ventilation, from which colliers worked upward into individual excavated "stalls" to extract the coal. The only other documented event at Wern is the explosion of December 1844 that killed four men (see Disasters, below). No other record of the level's working life or closure has been found.

Geology

Unknown; in the sources, beyond the presence of firedamp (methane).

Workings

A drift level with a horse-drawn tram-road ("horse-way") and a parallel ventilation "air-way", from which colliers worked upward into individual stalls.

Closure

Unknown.

What remains

Unknown.

Related mines

Ynys Dafydd Colliery — Both were coal levels of the same Cwm Avon Works, owned throughout by the Governor and Company of Copper Miners in England.

Nearby mines

Ynys Dafydd Colliery — 0.9 km NW
Eaglesbush Colliery — 1.9 km NW
Cwmgwineu Colliery — 2.9 km SE
Cwmavon Copper Works — 3.2 km SE
Ynisdavid Colliery — 3.4 km SE

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

Disasters & major incidents

Wern Colliery Explosion, Cwmafan, 1844
Early December 1844 · Explosion · 4 fatalities
A naked candle carried into a gas-filled stall at this Cwm Avon coal level ignited firedamp, killing three men outright; a fourth died soon after while helping recover the bodies.

Recorded claims

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

Wern Colliery was opened in 1811 as one of the coal levels supplying the Governor and Company of Copper Miners' Cwm Avon Works. ¹
Four men died in a firedamp explosion at Wern in December 1844, after one of them entered a gas-holding stall with a naked candle instead of a safety lamp. ^1,2
Wern was one of several coal levels supplying the Governor and Company of Copper Miners in Englands integrated Cwm Avon Works, which combined iron, copper-smelting, coal and tin-plate production and employed about 2,000 people. ¹

Photographs & further reading

"Fatal Colliery Explosion Near Neath", The Welshman, 6 December 1844 (reference)

A contemporary newspaper report of the explosion and inquest, digitised by the National Library of Wales, naming all four victims and describing the cause and the rescue attempt.

View source

Sources

(secondary) Small Collieries in the Afan Valley and surrounding areas — Northern Mine Research Society
(secondary) Fatal Colliery Explosion Near Neath — The Welshman (1844-12-06)

Record created: 14 September 2026 · Last researched: 15 September 2026