Windber Colliery

Overview

D. R. Llewellyn and Sons' group of drifts and levels at Cwmdare, Aberdare, opened from about 1905 for house, coking and steam coal; the New Windber drift of 1913 employed over 200 into the 1930s.

History

Windber was a group of drifts and levels at Cwmdare, west of Aberdare, opened from about 1905 by D. R. Llewellyn of Bwllfa: the old Windber drift, the Graig and Bwlch levels and Lluestau Llwydon, with the James Rees and James Williams levels worked alongside from about 1910. In 1908 the small Cwmdare levels together employed 66 men.

In 1913 Llewellyn opened the New Windber drift, whose entrance stone is carved with that year. The combined workforce was 335 by 1918 and 300 in 1920, raising 80,000 tons. By 1923 the old drift had closed: the New Windber employed 221 in the Gorllwyn Fach for house coal, the Windber Bwlch and Graig levels 61 in the No. 2 Rhondda and Lluestau Llwydon twelve. G. B. Barling was manager from the late 1920s, and 220 men worked there in 1935.

The Gorllwyn Fach workings of the old Windber and Lluestau Llwydon were abandoned in 1926 and the Upper Graig of the Windber Bwlch group in 1927. The colliery was closed before 1940. A 1978 photograph shows the 1913 drift mouth still standing.

Geology

South Wales coalfield, Cynon valley: the Gorllwyn and Gorllwyn Fach seams, the No. 2 Rhondda in the Bwlch and Graig levels, and the Upper Graig.

Workings

The old Windber drift, the New Windber drift of 1913, the Graig, Bwlch, Lluestau Llwydon, James Rees and James Williams levels.

Closure

Parts abandoned in 1926 and 1927; the colliery closed before 1940.

What remains

A photograph of 1978 shows the New Windber drift entrance, with its stone dated 1913.

The 1913 drift entrance, photographed in 1978.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Dyllas Colliery — Both D. R. Llewellyn and Sons collieries.
• Llwynhelig Colliery — Neighbouring D. R. Llewellyn and Sons drifts at Cwmdare.

Recorded claims

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

• Opened from about 1905 by D. R. Llewellyn and Sons as a series of drifts and levels. ^1,2
• The New Windber drift was opened in 1913; its entrance stone is engraved 1913. ¹
• Employed 335 men in 1918. ^1,2
• Produced 80,000 tons with 300 men in 1920. ²
• The Gorllwyn Fach workings of Windber Old and Lluestau Llwydon were abandoned in 1926. ³
• Closed before 1940. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Windber drift mine, Cwmdare; Llwynhelig; Dyllas — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (secondary) Windber Colliery — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (primary) BGS mine plans: Windber / Llostai / Llwydion / Windber Old, Gorllwyn Fach, 1926 — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority
4. (primary) BGS mine plans: Windber Bwlch / Jenkin's / Johnson's / Rees', Upper Graig, 1927 — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority

Record created: 7 October 2026 · Last researched: 7 October 2026