Elliots Colliery - New Tredegar
1888 - 1967

The shafts at Elliots Colliery were started in 1888 but it was to take twenty four years before the colliery would hit peak production. By 1912 the mine employed over 2800 men and was producing in excess of 1m tons per year.

However, this production did not come cheaply. The colliery was plagued with problems caused by flooding and powerful pumps had to be installed. The pumps had to clear 8 tons of water for every ton of coal the mine produced.

The colliery was closed in 1967, despite the fact that the mine was still producing over half a million tons per year.

Ray Harris wrote to Adge and included the following information on these collieries:
The correct name for the old pit was New Tredegar colliery, it was locally called the old pits. There were 2 pits in New Tredegar this one, & Elliotts Colliery. New Tredegar colliery was sunk in 1855 by Thomas Powell who went on to develop the Powell Dufferyn steam coal company who later went on to be one of the biggest private coal companies in south Wales if not the the UK.

The colliery closed in 1929 because the side of a mountain fell, and practically buiried the colliery, the fall of mountain badly damaged 2 of the shafts and as a result the company decided to abandon the colliery and there it stood until 1965 when the N.C.B. decided to fill the shafts and knock down the remaining buildings.

Phillip S. Price sent the following information in September 2005
I worked in the collieries for 26 years and grew up in Phillipstown, New Tredegar. I worked in many pits in South Wales and England. Although I was too young to work in Elliots, my father and grandfather worked there. I started in Bargoed Colliery.

There were other pits in New Tredegar besides the New Tredegar and Elliots collieries. There was also the George pit in Brithdir, The Coed-y Moeth. The Hope Pit, and levels such as the Derlwyn, Tirphil and White Rose among others. The White Rose can still be seen by the bottom of Wisemans steps at the bottom of Duffryn Terrace. A silver painted steel door.

Elliots nor any other colliery in South Wales ever produced a million tonnes. Most large collieries produced around 500,000 tonnes at thier peak. Tower Colliery at Hirwaun and Oakdale colliery raised just under a million in their peak years


Many thanks to Ray and Phillip for sending us this information.

This document maintained by Adge Covell.