Cefn Coed Colliery Museum
Overview
Cefn Coed Colliery Museum is situated near the Crynant village in the Dulais Valley which is just five miles north of Neath. This historical museum notifies the story of a coal mine at the Cefn Coed pit. This pit was once the most dangerous coalmines in Wales and also one of the deepest anthracite coalmines in the entire world. Due to this reason this coalmine received the name of “The Slaughterhouse”. This museum is exceptionally standing as it is one of the most wonderful and unspoilt valleys in Wales. Long ago, many coal miners worked undergone in some of the most difficult situations in the Cefn Coed pit.
Ancient History of this Museum
During the year 1920, Cefn Coed Colliery Museum was initially opened as an anthracite coalmine by the Llwynonn Coalmine Company. There were initial three attempts made to sink the shafts at this coalmine which failed however when Llwynonn Coalmine Company made large investments to break the hard Blue Pennant sandstone. In the year 1930, the first coal was lifted with the shaft and the work was entirely done by a steam engine which was fueled by gas form. The coal that was extracted from this coal mine was similar to the best quality anthracite from western South Wales.
Some of the best quality coal was extracted from the deepest seam known as the Big Vein which was broken into 750 yards of depth. Cefn Coed Colliery coal mine is one of the deepest anthracite coalmines in the entire world with an overall depth of 2,500 feet which is around 800 meters. The Nine Feet, White Four Feet and the Peacock are some of the other shafts that worked at this coalmine. By the use of X-ray diffraction performed by the Natural History Museum of London, Brammallite was identified in the seam of Dulais, making this coalmine the second site in Wales for Brammallite.
However, due to the overall depth and the causes of roof falls and methane gas there were several accidents that took place at this coalmine. Since then, this coalmine was named as “The Slaughterhouse”. In the year 1945, after the end of Second World War, there were only 908 people working at this site. At this time this coalmine was state-owned by National Coal Board that continued to invest in order to battle the requirement of an open roadway at the extreme depths of this pit. Since the year 1950, due to the altering economies of the country it led to the elimination in the workforce. And in the year 1968, this coalmine stopped its production.
Important Exhibits
Some of the important exhibits of this museum include:
• The Large collection of steam boilers from across the United Kingdom
• One of the only remaining examples of Welsh made steam winding engine
• The largest working stream winding engine in South Wales
• The one and only gas powered ram in the world
You must visit this museum in order to experience the dark, damp and harsh conditions which the miners went through. You can listen to some of the echoing sounds of the coal miners who worked in the stall and pillar exhibits and can also read some of the accidental mishaps that occurred at this coal mine giving it the nickname The Slaughterhouse.