Cwmtillery Colliery (original) (raw)
Cwmtillery Colliery, 1910.
Cwmtillery Colliery. Photograph from Bev May, Australia.
Cwmtillery's Manrider, 1970's.
NGR SO218060 Google Map
Thomas Brown sunk the first Cwmtillery shaft to the "Elled" seam at 130 yards on a farm called Tir Nicolas in 1843. At this time it went by the name of "Tir Nicolas Colliery" later the "South Wales Colliery".
During 1852 it came under the ownership of John Russell, a previous partner of Thomas Brown at Blaina Iron Works. Russell extended and deepened the shafts No. 3 (240 yards) and No. 2 (185 yards).
For more on John Russell please see the Risca Blackvein Page or click here.
Thirteen men died in an underground explosion 27th of May, 1857.
The colliery worked two seams, the Big Vein, or the Upper Seam which employed 45 men and boys and eleven yards under it, the Three Quarter seam which employed 25 persons. It was in this seam that the explosion took place. The Three Quarter was from three feet nine inches to four feet thick with a shale roof and up to the explosion, little gas had been encountered in the seam. There had been a small furnace in the pit but this had been removed two years before the explosion and the pit had no means to drive the air through the pit and the tops of both the shafts were on the same level. The ventilation air for the Three Quarter mine went down the pumping pit, along the water level, around the workings and back by the main level to the winding shaft which was the upcast. The ventilation in the workings depended on a single door and if that was damaged or destroyed there would be no ventilation to that part of the mine. There were four other doors further on but these would be useless if the first one was damaged.
The Inspector commented at the inquest, “From the evidence which has been given I am induced to attach blame to the fireman, Samuel Merrifield, deceased in so far as he took the top off his safety lamp before being perfectly assured that there was no firedamp in the loose for both sets of rules state that no one shall be allowed to work without a safety lamp in any place where there are signs of firedamp.
The ventilation of the whole colliery is inadequate, even for amine totally without firedamp and this is attributable chiefly to the want of some artificial means of
ventilation. The authorised rules imply that a furnace should be employed. Although ventilation is of great importance, in firedamp collieries it cannot be relied upon as a security against explosions. The only real safety lies in excluding altogether naked lights although the use of which in the last five years in England 1,187 lives out of 1,200 have been sacrificed, 13 only have lost their lives through defective lamps.”
The coroner summed up and the jury retired to consider it’s verdict. They returned the following verdict-
“That John Hawkins (one of the 12 deceased) was killed by suffocation consequent upon the explosion of firedamp, occasioned by the recklessness of Samuel Merrifield and the jury recommend that Mr. Russell should restore the furnace or adopt any other plan of adequately ventilating the works, with the double doors
referred to in the evidence, and also the observance henceforth of the rules sent by the Secretary of State.”
There was a separate verdict on the death of Samuel Merrifield-
“Burnt to death by the explosion of firedamp caused by his own negligence and recklessness.
Another shaft 261 yards deep was added in 1858.
During 1864 the South Wales Colliery Company was formed to purchase Cwmtillery colliery.
An explosion occurred here in 1866 after an air door had been left open, killing three men.
Six lives were lost as a result of another explosion, which occurred here on the 5th of April, 1873.
At 10 p.m., the night fireman. Joseph Sharpe, made his ordinary inspection and found no gas but told the men to be careful with the doors. The day fireman James Brown, went round at 3.45 a.m. and went into the west workings when he immediately encountered firedamp and realised that an
explosion had taken place.
The went to the surface for Mr. Wallace, the manager and they found the walls and roof were damaged and on the ground were the bodies of five men and three others who were just alive but died in a short time. Doors were blown down and one horse killed.
The inquest into the deaths of the men took place at Abertillery and lasted for six days. all interested parties were represented and Mr. Brough, the Inspector, gave evidence that he had inspected the colliery after the disaster. He thought that the explosion had been caused by sheets
being left down. The effect of this would have been like leaving open a ventilation door. He went on to say-
“If when the deceased persons had resumed their labour after partaking of their supper, or whatever meal the refreshment may be called, and had their sleep, they had discovered gas and had put up the sheet and so restored the ventilation to it’s normal and proper state, it is inevitable that the very restoration would have brought the firedamp right on to them, and they at the time being at work with naked lights, nothing could have prevented the explosion. But the more immediate bringing about of this calamity in my opinion was that after their supper and their sleep they walked about with unprotected lights right into the explosive mixture, not remembering that the sheets had been left down.”
The Inspector also considered the possibility of a sudden outburst of gas but rejected this as a possible source of the gas. Mr. Brough concluded the report of the disaster with the following words-
“The only thing that can be charged against the management was a want of discipline in not putting a stop to the reprehensible practice of men sleeping during the shift, every one of them retired at the same time into a stall for that very purpose, where, in all probability, they slept and hour and perhaps a good deal more.”
A further disastrous explosion occurred on the 18th of December 1876. Sixteen men and boys were killed instantly, two others died of their injuries two days later. There were also another 21 injured 11 seriously. Most of the deaths and injuries were the result of serious burns.
It is thought that over the following years the final death toll of this explosion reached 23 as others succumbed to their injuries
The explosion happened in the three-quarter seam at around 6am and the rescue was launched from the adjoining Rose Heyworth colliery.
The Inspector, Mr Cadman ,went into the workings affected by the explosion soon after the event and came to the conclusion that the explosion had taken place in Talgarth’s stall in Ralph’s heading. He said-
“I was much surprised to find that very little damage had been done to the workings and, with the exception of a few doors being blown down, and some evidence of fires, hardly anything indicated that such a terrible event had occurred. There were really no falls of importance, and I had no difficulty in making an examination of the whole place.”
After an inquiry which lasted several days, the jury returned the following verdict-
“We have carefully considered the evidence, practical and scientific, and have come to the
unanimous conclusion that the occurrence was totally accidental, and that the deaths were consequent upon burning and afterdamp. We also recommend that the day and night firemen should go down the pit before the men and report on its state.”
In 1888 Lancaster, Spier & Co. (later Lancaster’s Steam Coal Company) took over the lease.
From the Inspector of Mines list 1896, South Wales Cwmtillery Colliery and Rose Heyworth, a workforce of 1615 men were producing coal from the Old Coal, Big Vein, Elled and Three Quarter seams.
By 1908 the workforce at these two pits had risen to 2,664.
In 1918 there were 2,760. men employed.
From a report 1923, there were 882 men working at Cwmtillery No. 1 pit, producing from the Old Coal and Black Vein seams. At No. 2 pit there were 772 employed, working the Big Vein, Three Quarters and Black Vein seams.
The workforce numbered at 1243 at Cwmtillery in 1945.
In its first 100 years an estimated 32 million tons of coal was produced at this colliery.
It was integrated with Rose Heyworth in 1959 after a new drift mine (Abertillery New Mine) was driven 1,200 yards at a 1 in 5 gradient to raise the coal from the two pits.
Cwmtillery was one of the first collieries in South Wales to use the Meco-Moore Power Loader; it also had the longest man-riding system in South Wales, which carried men, some 3000 metres into the Garw Seam.
It closed in 1982.
More below from Geoff Palfrey.
Cwmtillery colliery update, taken from Western Mail October 1869
Owned at this date by the South Wales Collery Company , and was in use already for 25 years, output was 300 tons per day steam coal, 120 tons per day house coal from its level, there were 42 coke ovens using small coal from screens
The 3 pits were sunk 33 yards apart, the downcast and winding pit being sunk through Elled, Big vein, Three-quarter, Rock, Bydelleg (Blackvein) and finally the Old Coal seam at 246 yards. The shaft had a landing in three-quarter seam at 144 yards, another at the Rock seam at 193 yards. The middle pit was round and also 246 yards deep, this shaft was used to pump. The up-cast or north pit was oval 144 yards deep to Three-quarter seam, the shaft was fitted with carriages for coal but they were being removed and the shaft chimneyed.
The surface engines included a winder on the downcast with 2x 26 inch horizontal cylinders and 4.5 foot stroke, direct acting and raising from 2 levels, using a 10 foot diameter drum to Rock seam, and a 7 foot diameter drum to Three-quarter, The Bydelleg and Old Coal seams are 53 yards lower but were unworked at this date. Water was raised at night in tanks by the winder, the carriage held 1 tram per car, each tram held a ton and 2 wooden guides were in use.
The middle pit engine had 1 horizontal 20 inch diameter cylinder x 6foot stroke, geared 1:3, this engine used to pump from Three-quarter, but pump and guide rods are removed, it also used to raise from North up-cast, but this was suspended by 1869. The up-cast engine had a 24 inch diameter cylinder, 4.5 foot stroke, geared 1:3, 8 foot drum using, 3 linked chains, by then disused.
The Incline engine raised trucks on 500 yard incline to the railway branch, it had 2 x 14 inch diameter cylinders 3 foot stroke driving one 7 foot diameter drum to haul, and, one 5.5 foot diameter drum to draw through the siding to bank head, another small engine being used to raise rubbish to tip, there were 5 steam boilers, 2 plain and 3 double flued.
The Threequarter seam east side had 2 road ways east and west , the east side met a fault at 80yds, the down throw being 11 yards east, the Big vein was found opposite, this vein dipped east 80 yards to where the strata rose. An engine and boiler were set 80 yards east of upcast pit, it had 1 x 14 inch diameter cylinder and was 3 foot stroke geared 3;1 to a five foot diameter drum and hauled up dip, this was out of use however, the coal being reached by an inclined stone drift out of the Rock seam lower landing, 49 yards below Threequarter seam, it had a self- acting incline of 3 inches per yard and was 180 yards long.
The Threequarter seam west side had a main dip driven west 800 yards, with variable dip from flat to 3-4 inches per yard, the undulations being filled to allow empty trams to fall with the rope.
The haulage engine had 2x14 inch diameter cylinders, 20 inch stroke geared 1:5 to one 5.5 foot diameter drum, steam being brought down the upcast in pipes, with exhausts to upcast , it was situated 60 yards from up cast pit bottom, where it used to supply, however at this time it drew to downcast, drawing 700 yards up the plane where it dropped to the pit for 80 yards, empties being worked vice versa.
At 500 yards down the dip a south branch was adapted for haulage for 300 yards and was to be extended, 200 tons per day being taken up the main dip from Big Vein and threequarter vein. Below the south branch was a dip of 100 yards of nipped out barren ground where the Threequarter vein was lost, then regained with a good quality and stronger roof on the lower side, a moderate influx of water was taken up dips in tanks to the engine plane.
At the heading bottom, a northern heading was being extended either side using longwall, the rise was to north and east, the Threequarter seam section in this area having a cliff quar roof , good 2 foot 6 inches of coal a half inch of shale, 8 inches of coal, a half inch of shale and 7 inches of bottom coal=3foot 9 of good coal which was banked, then 1 inch of shale, 4 inches of coal, 1 inch of shale 1 foot of coal= 1 foot 4 of engine coal which was not raised, underclay.
Gate roads were 10 yards apart with centres driven 50 yards or more each side of heading, some parts had longwall faces extending 2-300 yards in a line, the filling made by cutting engine coal bottom.
The Big vein was 13 yards above the threequarter, accessed by a rise stone drift from below, the section in heading was 1foot 6 coal, 4 inches clod, 7 inches engine coal 1foot 6 clod, 6 inches soft holing clod, 4foot good coal, 1 inch of shale 4 inches good coal, 1.25 inches shale = 4foot 4 inches sent to bank, 4 inches good coal 6 inches shale 1 foot good bottom coal=1ft 4 which was not raised in stalls, underclay.
Holing was made in soft clod, clod formed the roof, the reason only 4ft 4 in 2 seams being removed was due to shale. Slips did not regularly occur, the coal was hard and of large size, powder was used to get it down, if the Threequarter was worked below first, gas was drained and hewn coal was even larger. Candles were used throughout the colliery
The Elled Seam was 6 yards above The Bigvein, it had uncertain thickness, but was good quality house or steam coal, all longwall got, the Bigvein being worked first and showing little deterioration from crushing, another rise stone drift from Bigvein on east making a self- acting incline, an engine drew 8 tram journey up west incline, the trams were open bodied, 1 ton capacity, wheels being recently changed from tram to flanged wheels, at the engine plane, single head rails were found most satisfactory in settled roads, the tram plates were kept for headings and gate roads.
Ventilation
2 furnaces were used, one 8 foot wide situated 80 yards from upcast, a new 9 foot furnace at upcast bottom was also in use, airflows were 3500 cfm west, 28000 east= 63000 cfm total, the furnace consumed 5 tons in 24 hours, or 8676 cfm per pound of coal used.
The Red Ash level ( Brithdir) was driven to the east 800 yards, had a rock roof, the seam having 3 inches of inferior coal thrown back, 8 inches coal, a small parting, another 8 inches of coal, 6 inches of clod 2 foot of bottom coal, underclay. The seam being worked longwall, with 14 yard gate roads, driven east west on the back, others north and south at end. The small coal being stowed and no gas present, candles being used, the seam rose to the east. Ventilation was by flue at level mouth, the coal being sold for house and Smiths use at railway depots.