Mardy Colliery
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Country | Wales |
| Production | |
| Products | Steam coal |
| History | |
| Opened | 1881 |
| Active | 1881–1990 |
| Closed | 1990 |
| Owner | |
| Company | 1874–1880: Mordecai Jones / J. R. Cobb 1880–1932: Locket's Merthyr Company 1932–1935: Welsh Associated Collieries 1935–1947: Powell Duffryn 1947–1990: National Coal Board |
Maerdy Colliery was a coal mine located in the South Wales village of Maerdy (Welsh: Y Maerdy), in the Rhondda Valley, located in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, and within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales. Opened in 1875, it closed in December 1990.
Maerdy derives its name from a large farmhouse on a bank of the Rhondda Fach, which became the local meeting place for both court matters and worship. Maerdy is the Welsh word for mayor's house.
While other areas of the South Wales coalfield had been exploited up to 50 years earlier, due to the scarcity and difficult access conditions of Rhondda Fach, it remained largely undeveloped. But the demand for steam coal drove development and, in 1874, Mordecai Jones of Brecon and Nantmelyn purchased the mineral rights around the farmhouse and its surrounding lands from the estate of the late Crawshay Bailey for £122,000. Additional capital was provided by a partner, J. R. Cobb, and a trial pit was sunk in 1875.
In 1876, this No. 1 Pit struck the Abergorky vein of coal. Proving the mine viable by increasing production to 100 tons per day, Maerdy No. 2 Pit was sunk in 1876. After connecting the mine to the Taff Vale Railway's Maerdy Branch, they transported the first coal to Cardiff Docks in 1877. After the death of Mordecai Jones in 1880, the mine was leased to Locket's Merthyr Company. They invested to increase production, which expanded from 30,000 tons p.a. in 1879 to over 160,000 tons p.a. by 1884, and sank Maerdy No. 3 Pit in 1893. The mine was now divided into two separate districts: the East, known as "Rhondda", and the West, known as "Aberdare". By this time the mine's link to the Taff Vale Railway had become the mainline to Porth and onwards to Cardiff. Maerdy No. 4 Pit was completed in 1914.
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