Ynyshir Colliery

Overview

A Rhondda Fach steam-coal colliery sunk from 1875, renamed the Standard in 1887 and worked until 1968. Electrical shot-firing was tried successfully here in 1886, one of the earliest such trials in the coalfield.

History

James Thomas of the Ynyshir Steam Coal Company began sinking No. 1 pit in 1875 and No. 2 in 1876, reaching the Rhondda Four Foot steam seam in 1877 and 1878. No. 1 was the upcast at 408 yards and No. 2 the downcast at 526. It was called Ynyshir Colliery at first and became the Ynyshir Standard in 1887, by which time it was producing over 185,000 tons a year. Successful shot-firing trials using electrical detonators took place here in 1886. On 12 October 1889 David Jones, aged thirty-nine, Joseph Jones, aged sixteen, and Thomas Griffiths, aged thirty-seven, died under a fall of roof. The Inspector of Mines list for 1896 gives a workforce of 740, and by 1908 it had grown to 1,454. In 1912 the company amalgamated with the Wattstown National colliery to form the United National Collieries, annual output rising to 365,000 tons with 1,350 employed. The two Ynyshir Standard pits employed 1,107 in 1918. A list of 1923 shows how far the work had shifted between them: thirty-two men at No. 1 on the Two Feet Nine, and 1,180 at No. 2 on the Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 seams, the No. 2 Rhondda and the Six Feet. By 1938 Wattstown National and Ynyshir Standard worked as a single unit of 879 people. The colliery later came under the Ocean United National Company, employed 762 in 1945 and closed in 1968.

Geology

The colliery worked the steam coals of the Rhondda Fach, reaching the Rhondda Four Foot in 1877 and 1878 and later working the Two Feet Nine, the Nos. 1 to 4 seams, the No. 2 Rhondda and the Six Feet.

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

Workings

Two pits: No. 1 the upcast at 408 yards, sunk from 1875, and No. 2 the downcast at 526 yards, sunk from 1876. By 1923 almost all the work was at No. 2, No. 1 keeping only thirty-two men on the Two Feet Nine.

Closure

Closed in 1968.

What remains

No account of the site as it is now was found in the sources read.

No account of surviving remains was found in the sources read.

Redevelopment

Not established.

Nearby mines

• National Colliery — 1.1 km NW
• Cymmer Colliery — 2.1 km S
• Lewis Merthyr Colliery — 2.4 km SE
• Glamorgan Colliery — 2.5 km W
• Tymawr Colliery — 2.7 km SE

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.

• James Thomas of the Ynyshir Steam Coal Company began sinking No. 1 pit in 1875 and No. 2 in 1876, eventually reaching the Rhondda Four Foot steam seam in 1877 and 1878; No. 1 was the upcast at 408 yards and No. 2 the downcast at 526 yards. ¹
• Originally called Ynyshir colliery, it became the Ynyshir Standard in 1887, by which time it was producing over 185,000 tons of coal a year. ¹
• Successful shot firing trials using electrical detonators took place at this colliery in 1886. ¹
• In 1912 the company amalgamated with the Wattstown National colliery to form the United National Collieries; the annual output rose to 365,000 tons with a workforce of 1,350, and by 1938 Wattstown National and Ynyshir Standard worked as a single unit of 879 men. ¹
• The Inspector of Mines list for 1896 gives 740 employed and by 1908 the workforce had grown to 1,454; the two Ynyshir Standard pits employed 1,107 in 1918. A list of 1923 gives thirty-two men at No. 1 on the Two Feet Nine seam and 1,180 at No. 2 on the Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 seams, the No. 2 Rhondda and the Six Feet. There were 762 employed in 1945 under the Ocean United National Company, and the colliery closed in 1968. ^2,1

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Ynyshir Standard Colliery — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (secondary) Ynyshir Colliery — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 10 September 2026 · Last researched: 10 September 2026