Some of the history of the Gwaun Cae Gurwen Colliery

The Gwaun Cae Gurwen Colliery was sunk in 1837 by Richard Hopkin. It was known locally as The Old Pit and the winding was by a beam engine and flat rope drums until 1886.

In September 1847, six people were killed when a flat winding rope broke. The Newcastle Guardian and Tyne Mercury wrote on Saturday, September 11, 1847, that; “A frightful accident occurred at the Waun Cae Gurwen Colliery in the Swansea Vale, by which six persons have lost their lives.”

The inquest was held the day prior on September 10, 1847. The report states that the inquest was held before coroner Charles Collins at the Leigh Arms Tavern, Gwaun Cae Gurwen.

The six who died were 36-year-old David Matthews, 28-year-old John Lewis, 37-year-old Evan Rees, 30-year-old John Mainwaring, 18-year-old Richard Williams and 17-year-old Thomas Rees.

The inquest heard that the six were colliers under employment of Townsend Kirkhouse Wood.

The article reads: “About 6 o’clock on Tuesday evening, when it became their turn to work, they descended a pit in the neighbourhood of Waun Cae Gurwen for the purpose of cutting coal.

“They were let down in the usual manner by the engineman, Morgan Davis, and the platform upon which they had descended was left at the bottom of the shaft to await their return.

“About 3 o’clock Wednesday morning, Davis, the engineman, heard the blowing of a horn at the bottom of the pit, which was the usual signal that the ben below wanted to be hauled up, and accordingly he set the engine to work to hoist the platform.

“The chains worked as usual, and the platform, with the men on it, had risen so near to the mouth of the pit that the engineman was enabled to see the light of the candle which the men had who were ascending with it.

“Suddenly he heard a loud crash, the candle disappeared, and the platform, with the six poor fellows upon it, was dashed to the bottom of the pit, a depth upwards of 540 feet.

“Davis, the engineman, immediately gave the alarm, and William Williams and several other colliers repaired as speedily as they could to the spot, and were lowered down by a chain into the pit.

“Their six unfortunate companions were all laying dead, their bodies shockingly mutilated. Matthews, Lewis, and Rees were married: the two former have left three children each, and the latter two children.

“Upon examination, the accident happened through the breaking of the chain from a flaw in one of the links.

“The juries returned verdicts of ‘accidental death’ in all the cases, but appended to their verdicts that a competent man should at all times be placed at the mouth of every pit to examine the chains.”

At some point following this incident, the colliery was taken over by the Morgan family who kept hold of it until 1874. It was then taken over by the Gwaun Cae Gurwen Colliery Company, which was run by Yorkshire businessmen. The sale of the colliery by the Morgan family ended up in the Supreme Court in 1876 after the Morgans were upset at the way the sale was handled.

The court heard – according to a report in the Cardiff Times on May 27, 1876 – that Morgan was looking for £10,000 from the defendants Elford and Crispe. Morgan had been looking to sell the colliery and went to Elford who was a merchant and commission agent to get a buyer for the colliery and offered £5,000 commission. Crispe was a student of the bar and introduced by Elford to Morgan.

Crispe agreed to buy the colliery for £30,000 but ‘very soon’ after the completion of the purchase, Crispe sold the colliery on for £40,000.

Morgan filed the lawsuit claiming that the defendants worked together to buy the colliery at a lower price than they knew they could get for it.

The defendants denied the claim stating that the increased price was at a time when there was ‘excitement’ about coal which ran up the value of the collieries and that Morgan knew the value of the colliery, after he had it valued at around £25,000.

The article stated: “The case occupied several days in the court below, and the vice-chancellor held the defendants jointly and severally liable to repay to the plaintiff the £10,000.”

The defendants appealed the decision and the Supreme Court ruled that “there was not the slightest evidence that Elford induced Morgan to sell for £25,000 with the knowledge that a higher price could be got.

“Lord Justice James held that the correspondence was quite sufficient to protect the defendants from liability for the repayment of the £10,000, because it was perfectly clear, from Morgan’s letters, that he was content to get the £25,000, whatever Elford might obtain for the colliery. The plaintiff got all he asked, and there was no ground whatever for the imputation which the vice chancellor had cast upon the defendants.”

The case was thrown out.

In 1886, the Maerdy pit was opened. This was also known as the New Pit and worked on the Big Vein seam.

In 1894, a man – James Cole – was killed at the colliery. The local carpenter was working on a piece of timber in the colliery and as he was reversing it, the timber struck a circular saw and was driven backwards, hitting Mr Cole in the stomach ‘with great force’ according to an August 1894 newspaper report by the South Wales Daily Post. Mr Cole was taken home where his injuries were examined by a Dr Howel Rees of Glangarnant. His injuries were said to have been severe and he died two days later.

In 1896, the Inspector of Mines list had 440 men working at the Old Pit, and 615 working at the New Pit. In 1908, there were 1,275 people working at the Gwaun Cae Gurwen Colliery across the sites.

On Wednesday, November 24, 1909, an advert appeared in the Liverpool Journal of Commerce, where the Gwaun Cae Gurwen Colliery Company was offering ‘absolutely smokeless’ anthracite coal. The advert stated there was ‘specially made washed beans for gas producers. Red vein (large and cobbles) for horticultural purposes. Prices quoted by Rail to any Station in Great Britain or by Ship F.O.B, Swansea, or Llanelly, South Wales.’

In 1910, East Pit was sunk to the Peacock seam and the shaft of the Old Pit was used as the upcast ventilation for the New and East Pits.

In 1918, 777 people were working at the New Pit and 656 at the East Pit.

A newer pit, the Steer Pit, was sunk between 1922 and 1924 to work on the Lower Vein seam. In 1923, there were 776 men in the East Pit, 806 in the New Pit and 30 working on the sinking of the Steer Pit.

An advert in the January 4, 1926, edition of the Western Mail described the colliery as ‘world famous.’

The colliery was taken over by the Amalgamated Anthracite Collieries Ltd. In 1945, 2,035 men were working on the East Pit, Steer Pit, New Pit and Cwmgors slant.

The National Coal Board closed down the New Pit in 1948, with Steer Pit closing in 1959, East Pit in 1962/3 and Cwmgors slant in 1964/5.

The miners working in the East and Steer pits protested against the closure of their pits, which was due to take place initially on May 26, 1956. The miners had been on strike prior to this for 16 days due to the dismissal of two shacklers and they had refused to work voluntary Saturday shifts for the previous nine months in protest of the Divisional Coal Board for refusing to open two new pithead baths.