Brynlliw Colliery

 

 

Brynlliw Colliery was originally sunk between 1903 – 1908 by Thomas Williams (Llangennech) Ltd. It was sunk to work dry steam coals from the Swansea Four Feet seam, at a depth of around 340 yards. In 1914, the deeper and slightly thicker Five Feet Seam was also developed. In 1925 the pit became a victim of the prevailing depression and was closed until 1927.

 

It remained unproductive until 1954, though the shafts and headgear were retained. In that year, the National Coal Board approved a major re-development aimed at restoring Brynlliw to a working mine, at a cost of £4.8 million. The project included the repair and deepening of the shafts, the driving of several thousand yards of new underground roadways for loco haulage, new headgear, (equipped for skip winding of coal in the No. 2 shaft and for man-riding and materials in the No.1 shaft), a modern coal preparation plant capable of handling 270 tons an hour run-of-mine coal and the construction of new pithead baths and administrative buildings.

 

By 1961, the colliery was back in production and by 1968 was showing an annual output well over 300,000 tons from the Swansea Three Feet and Six Feet seams. It closed in1982.

 

First sunk	1903-1908
Manpower	830
Annual saleable output	314,000 tonnes
Average weekly output saleable	6-7,000 tonnes
Average output per man per shift	5.4 tonnes
Deepest working level	410 meters (1,345 feet)
Number of coal faces	3
Shaft depth – 1	335m (1099ft)
Diameter	4.1m (13’ 6”)
Shaft Depth – 2	350m (1148 ft)
Diameter	4.1m (13’ 6”)
Manwinding capacity	48
Coal winding capacity	8 tonnes
Winding engines	1100/1450 hp
Stocking capacity on surface	500,000 tonnes
Type of coal	Anthracite – Dry Steam
Coal reserves	3.4 million tonnes