Wyndham Western Colliery

Overview

Two adjoining Ogmore Vale collieries, Wyndham and Western, sunk a few years apart in the 1860s and 1870s and eventually merged into a single operation that was, by 1971, raising the largest output of any single unit in the South Wales Coalfield.

History

The Llynvi, Tondu and Ogmore Vale Iron and Coal Company began sinking Wyndham Colliery at Nantymoel, in the Ogmore Vale, from 1865, completing two shafts to the Six-Feet seam by 1868; they were deepened in 1891 to just below the Bute seam, reaching 1,076 feet 11 inches. A few years later, in 1873-75, the Western Merthyr Coal and Fuel Company sank a second pit nearby, originally known as Edward's Pit and renamed Western in 1877; during its sinking, on 7 December 1874, a gas explosion killed five sinkers (see Disasters, below). Both collieries passed through a similar sequence of owners over the following decades: the original Llynvi Tondu company went bankrupt in 1888, Wyndham being bought by Colonel J.T. North's group for £350,000 and eventually becoming North's Navigation Collieries (1899) Ltd, while Western passed to the Ocean Coal Company. Both were sold to Cory Brothers Ltd by 1906 — Wyndham then employing 1,395 men by 1913 — passing to the Powell Duffryn Steam Coal Company in 1942 and to the National Coal Board on the 1947 nationalisation of the coal industry. The two collieries were formally integrated in the early-to-mid 1960s (sources give both 1963 and 1965), linked by a 315-yard connecting roadway completed in 1962 at a cost of £3 million, with all coal thereafter raised at the Wyndham shaft; the combined operation's estimated reserves across ten seams totalled 62 million tons. By 1971 the merged Wyndham/Western Colliery, employing 1,188 men, produced 475,000 tons a year — the largest output of any single unit in the South Wales Coalfield. Output and manpower both declined through the 1970s, however, falling to 144,000 tons in 1979 and a workforce of 670 by 1981. The National Coal Board announced closure in September 1983, citing 'hopeless mining conditions', and Wyndham Western Colliery closed in January 1984, with 537 miners offered redundancy or alternative work.

Geology

The combined colliery worked ten seams across its life, including the Gellideg, Five-Feet, Yard (Seven-Feet), Bute, Lower-Nine-Feet, Caerau (Red Vein), Lower-Six-Feet and Two-Feet-Nine, with individual seam thicknesses ranging from around 48 inches up to 84 inches; combined reserves were estimated at 62 million tons at the time of the 1960s merger.

Workings

Wyndham's shafts, deepened in 1891 to 1,076 feet 11 inches, were 15 and 12 feet in diameter; a 315-yard roadway, completed in 1962 at a cost of £3 million, linked the two collieries underground, with all coal thereafter wound at the Wyndham shaft alone. Wyndham also opened the first miners' canteen in South Wales to offer a full hot meal service, in 1942, and introduced the 'Samson Stripper', a hydraulically driven, chisel-headed coal cutter, around 1950.

Closure

The National Coal Board announced closure in September 1983, citing 'hopeless mining conditions'; Wyndham Western Colliery closed in January 1984, with 537 miners offered redundancy or alternative employment.

Abandoned workings can be dangerous — unstable ground, uncapped shafts, flooding and bad air are common even where a site looks safe from the surface. This entry describes history and general location only; it is not an access guide.

Disasters & major incidents

• Western Colliery sinking explosion, 1874
  7 December 1874 · Explosion · 5 fatalities
  A gas explosion during the sinking of Western Colliery, at what later became the Wyndham Western complex at Nantymoel, killed five sinkers on 7 December 1874.

Recorded claims

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

• The Llynvi, Tondu and Ogmore Vale Iron and Coal Company began sinking Wyndham Colliery from 1865, completing two shafts to the Six-Feet seam by 1868; they were deepened in 1891 to just below the Bute seam, reaching 1,076 feet 11 inches. ¹
• The Western Merthyr Coal and Fuel Company sank Western Colliery in 1873-75, originally known as Edward's Pit and renamed Western in 1877. ²
• Both collieries passed to Colonel J.T. North's group and then Cory Brothers Ltd by 1906, on to the Powell Duffryn Steam Coal Company in 1942, and to the National Coal Board on the 1947 nationalisation of the coal industry. ^2,1
• The two collieries were linked by a 315-yard roadway completed in 1962 at a cost of £3 million and formally integrated in the early-to-mid 1960s; by 1971 the merged operation, employing 1,188 men, produced 475,000 tons a year, the largest output of any single unit in the South Wales Coalfield. ¹
• The National Coal Board announced closure in September 1983, citing 'hopeless mining conditions'; the colliery closed in January 1984, with 537 miners offered redundancy or alternative employment. ^2,1

Sources

1. (secondary) Wyndham Colliery — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Wyndham Western Colliery — welshcoalmines.co.uk

Record created: 27 August 2026 · Last researched: 27 August 2026