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Barrow Collieries, Bryncethin , c. 1912.
In this area there were many shallow drift mines, or levels, which produced House coal from the Red Ash seam.
The Barrow-in-Furness Hematite Steel
Co. Limited wanted to exploit the more profitable Steam coal seams,
which lay at a much greater depth, so vertical shafts had to be
sunk.
It was during this operation that an accident occurred killing five
men. Four masons and three labourers were at work on the brick
casing of the shaft when the platform, on which they were standing
give way and they fell 30 feet into the sump below, in which stood
12 feet of water. Two of the men managed to escape by hanging on to
a bowk, that was at the pit bottom, the others drowned.
They were;
Thomas Davies, William Franks, Charles Howells, Stradling
Llewellyn, and John Rook.
By 1908 it was in the hands of the Bryncethin Colliery Co Ltd., at this time Barrow pits 2 and 3 employed a total of 200 men.
For an act of bravery George Edwards won the Edward medal 2nd class on the 22nd July 1911.
The colliery closed before 1918.
BRYNCETHIN by DAVID BAYLISS. ( born 1877 ).
Edited notes from an Interview by Lennard Higgins, on July 15th. 1954.
Coal Mining
Coal mining has been going on at Bryncethin on a small scale
for over 200 years.
Between 1830 and 1840, a man named Robert Watson from Cowbridge,
had several small sinkings on the mountain at Bryncethin, and these
were known to us from childhood,
as Robert Watson’s Pits. He used to come and pay his workmen
at the old Corner House Public House opposite the new Masons Arms.
Mr. Watson was connected with the
grammar school at Cowbridge.
In my young days, an old man of 80, who had worked for him, gave
him an excellent name, and he was highly thought of by the then few
people of Bryncethin.
Robert Watson was the person who worked ‘Pwll yr
Engine’, and this was apparently just behind the site of the
new Masons Arms, near the 'Lodge’, (colliery).
Tynycoed workings - Robert Rees's grandfather was killed in a
small colliery which he, and his three brothers had sunk at
Tynycoed in about 1830.
No.1 pit was sunk in 1870 by a colliery company named Glassbrook
from Swansea. They sunk to a thick seam of coal about 18ft. It was
quite easy for them to
find the coal because the old people had worked the outcrop, and
had carted the coal to Coity to the limekilns, and to an old iron
works near Bridgend.
In 1873 the Glassbrook Company sold the colliery to the Barrow
Company from Wigan in the North of England. They spent
£10,000 in finding the coal and sold
for £30,000. They were the only company to make money out of
coalmining in Bryncethin.
Illtyd Morgan worked with Glassbrook when sinking No.1 pit. The
first pit is the ventilation shaft which is south of the line
now.
Six men, one on top of the other, was a good depth for a pit in
those days, when winding was done by hand. Six men = approx. 12
yards.
In 1921/2, D.M.Elias had a book as thick as a Bible and a record
of Jenkins' working of coal, price sold and where it was going etc.
It was very valuable and dated from 1780 to 1820. Mr. Elias had
shown it to David Bayliss.
New Barrow Pit. In 1873, the Barrow Company sank two pits, No.2
and No.3, on a field called Waungoch. No.2 pit was sunk to a depth
of 380 yards, and No.3 pit
to the depth of 400 yards. They also built a brickworks.
The old Coffee Pot railway was used to carry coal from No.1 pit to
the new sinkings, to the brickyard and to Tynywaun.
NB. The Barrow Company’s last effort was at Tynywaun, where
they sank a pit 180 yards and drove a slant on the No.3 seam. This
was the slant opened by John Brace about 1904.
No.1 pit was closed about 1885, and No.2 and No.3 pits were closed
about 1886.
The Brickworks was bought by Chas. Jenkins and son, Bridgend.
The fitting shop and the carpenters' shop were bought by people
name Elliot from Cardiff. They opened a mineral water (pop) works
and carried on for four or five years.
In 1888 when they finished up here, they had a sale. Farms for
which they had paid heavily, were sold very cheaply. The bottom row
at Tynywaun known as Railway Terrace, was sold at £20 pounds
a house, Freehold. The Barrow Company was supposed to have lost
£250,000.
In 1905, The Barrow No.2 and No.3 pits were re-opened to a depth
of 290 yards, where a new stage was made to work the seams of coal
higher up the pit.
They closed down in December 1915.
A French Company then re-opened the pits, and lost £80,000
and a Belgian Company lost £40,000.
The Lodge pit was the first pit in which the old people worked a
steam engine and it was known as “Pwll yr Engine”. NB.
The Tithe Map shows two small tramlines bringing the coal to the
side of the road leading to Coity.
Railways
The Branch Line - An old map shows that it was in construction in
1876 as far as Tynywaun Bridge. As also was the Cardiff –
Ogmore Railway constructed by David Davies, Ocean.
(David Davies, Llandinam)
Schools
Bryncethin School - I know very little about the school, but I
know that the people attended there in 1870, and it appears, that
where the school was, there was a cottage with an elderly lady
living in it, and she gave it to the Church to build a school.
Robert Rees born 1859, went to Bryncethin School when he was seven
years old. The Master at the school was a Mr. Lewis, and his
assistant a Mrs. Groves. Mr. Lewis died and Mrs Groves opened a
night school in Brook Row.
Chapels
Origin of Peniel Independent Chapel from Rees’s History of
Independent Chapels:
In 1828 William Evans of New Mill gave a piece of ground on which
to build Peniel Chapel.
Property
Deeds of Tack in possession of David Bayliss, (and shown to
Lennard Higgins). The first Deed dated 1859 showed the conveyance
of property from David Rosser and Esther his wife, ie. 2 houses and
gardens and orchard, then in the occupation of Edward Howell and
formerly in the occupation of John Rosser and daughter Ann. There
was refrence in the deed to Samuel Lewis, (Sam T'yn y Pwnt) and his
wife, being in gaol in London.
The three cottages where Salisbury House now stands – where
Catty Shon lived – David Bayliss helped to pull these old
cottages down. They had stone roofs – no thatch. Brassy,
(Morgan Morgan), bought them in 1893, and employed David Bayliss to
pull them down in 1894. He built the new houses on the site
starting in 1895.
Shon Tyler – (John Rees) – In 1872 the fellow who
owned Shon Tyler's cottage, got a girl into trouble, and borrowed
20 guineas from Shon Tyler on the security of the cottage. If he
did not return, the cottage became the property of Shon Tyler. The
man left the country and Shon claimed the cottage. When he became
infirm he wanted to sell the cottage for 40 pounds. He asked David
Bayliss to take the Title, (the agreement lending the twenty
guineas, drawn up by Tamplin Lewis over a 6d. stamp), to a
solicitor. David Bayliss took it to Williams, of Stockwood and
Williams to see if he was right. Williams said the agreement was no
Title, as the person could come back at any time and claim the
cottage. David Bayliss therefore did not buy the cottage, which was
later bought by Morgan Morgan, (Brassy) – this was the Title
to the new Masons.
Tynycoed Fach - The Turberville agent told David Bayliss that it
was their longest occupied property, and that it had been occupied
for 300 years.
Tai Caeau Gwynion (three cottages) -These were right against
Maendy's garden and were very old. David Bayliss’s
grandmother Keziah was married to David Rees from one of these
cottages.
Thomas Rees (built Rees Row) - His son David Rees married Keziah
Morgan.
Thomas Rees went to the French wars instead of someone else. David
Bayliss said it was the local Parson. He went to Cowbridge, and
then walked from there to London, He survived the war and came back
and built Rees Row. He made his living by selling coal. He made
enough to build one house, then saved again and when ready built
the next house. He was known as Thomas Rees y Cybydd, meaning
Thomas Rees the Miser.
This document is held in the HIGGINS PAPERS in the Bridgend County
Borough Library Headquarters in Park Street, Bridgend.