Rhondda Heritage Park
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Rhondda Heritage Park,
Trehafod Trehafod is a village and community in the Rhondda Valley between Porth and Pontypridd in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, with a population of 698 in the 2011 census.(The earlier name ''Hafod'' was altered in 1905 to avoid confu ...
,
Rhondda Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley ( cy, Cwm Rhondda ), is a former coal mining, coalmining area in South Wales, historically in the county of Glamorgan. It takes its name from the River Rhondda, and embraces two valleys – the larger Rhondda Fa ...
, South
Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
is a tourist attraction which offers an insight into the life of the
coal mining Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...
community that existed in the area until the 1980s. Visitors can experience the life of the coal miners on a guided tour through one of the mine shafts of the Lewis Merthyr colliery. Tours are led by former colliery workers. Rhondda Heritage Park is an Anchor Point of ERIH, The
European Route of Industrial Heritage The European Route of Industrial Heritage (ERIH) is a tourist route of the most important industrial heritage sites in Europe. This is a tourism industry information initiative to present a network of industrial heritage sites across Europe. The ...
. Rhondda Heritage Park exists on the site of the former Lewis Merthyr Colliery as a testament to the coal mining history of the Rhondda Valleys, which until the end of the 20th century was one of the most important coal mining areas in the world - in an area only long, Rhondda alone had over 53 working collieries at one time.


History of the Lewis Merthyr Colliery

Although coal was mined as early as the seventeenth century in the Rhondda for domestic purposes, the earliest recorded opening and mining of a safe coal level was in 1790 by Dr Richard Griffiths, who was also responsible for bringing the first tram road into the Rhondda. Subsequently, Walter Coffin opened and sunk the first pits paving the way for the discovery of rich and prosperous steam coal seams with many more lines to follow. Two pits were opened in 1850 on what was to become the Lewis Merthyr site: *Hafod by two brothers David and John Thomas *Coed Cae by Edward Mills Both pits had to be abandoned early on due to the conditions of the workings. In the mid-1870s
William Thomas Lewis William Thomas Lewis (1748?–1811), known as "Gentleman" Lewis, due to his refined acting style, was an English actor. He was said to be "the most complete fop on the stage". In later life he went into theatrical management. Early days in Ir ...
(later Lord Merthyr) purchased and reopened the two pits, mining the upper bituminous (household) coal seams, until Hafod closed around 1893 and Coed Cae in the 1930s. By 1880 WT Lewis had sunk the Bertie shaft, and in 1890 the Trefor shaft (both named after his sons), by which time the company had become known as the Lewis Merthyr Consolidated Collieries Ltd, employing some 5,000 men and producing almost a million tons of coal annually. The two headframes and associated colliery buildings are now
Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...
buildings. In 1904 the company sunk the Lady Lewis Colliery to the north east in the Rhondda Fach. In 1905 the company acquired
Universal Colliery Universal Colliery was a coal mine located in Senghenydd in the Aber Valley, roughly four miles north-west of the town of Caerphilly. It was in the county borough of Caerphilly, traditionally in the county of Glamorgan, Wales. Started in 1891, it ...
at Senghenydd, which was later to suffer the worst ever mining disaster in British history. In 1929 the colliery became part of the Powell Dyffryn Group, and in the same year Coed Cae stopped winding coal. Hafod No 2 followed, and Hafod No 1 in 1933. The colliery was nationalised in 1947. In 1958 Lewis Merthyr Colliery and the neighbouring Ty Mawr Colliery merged and all coal winding ceased at Lewis Merthyr, with coaling continuing via Ty Mawr and men and supplies only at Lewis Merthyr. By 1969 the Colliery had become the Ty Mawr/Lewis Merthyr Colliery. As many as thirteen seams have been worked at the Lewis Merthyr using the advanced longwall method of working with most of the coal being won with pneumatic picks and hand loaded onto conveyors. Until the 1950s the coal industry maintained a steady level of production and employment, but since that time there has been a continuing decline in the number of miners in employment. Most of the pits which have been closed have still left coal to mine, but with oil and coal available more cheaply from abroad the demise of the industry has been inevitable. Nowhere has the decline of the coal industry been more dramatic than in the South Wales Coal Field. At Lewis Merthyr production came to an end on the 14 March 1983 with production continuing in the four feet seam until July when coaling ceased forever at Ty Mawr/Lewis Merthyr. By 1990 not one productive colliery existed in the Rhondda but Rhondda's past has been captured and preserved as an historic landmark at the Lewis Merthyr Colliery now the Rhondda Heritage Park.


Miner's Lamp Memorial

In May 2000, a replica Miner's Lamp monument was unveiled at the entrance of Rhondda Heritage Park. According to the plaque on the monument it was erected "as a memorial to all those who through
accident An accident is an unintended, normally unwanted event that was not directly caused by humans. The term ''accident'' implies that nobody should be blamed, but the event may have been caused by unrecognized or unaddressed risks. Most researche ...
,
disaster A disaster is a serious problem occurring over a short or long period of time that causes widespread human, material, economic or environmental loss which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources ...
or
disease A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that a ...
, lost their lives or otherwise suffered as a result of the mining industry of the
South Wales coalfield The South Wales Coalfield ( cy, Maes glo De Cymru) extends across Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Bridgend, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen. It is rich in coal deposits, espe ...
". The memorial was unveiled by Rhondda-born actor Glyn Houston.


Lewis Merthyr Band

The Lewis-Merthyr Band remains active to the present day. Founded in or before 1855, the band has been highly successful, winning numerous contest accolades, and continues to perform across Wales and wider. Lewis-Merthyr Band is believed to be the oldest instrumental ensemble in Rhondda, still currently in existence.Lewis Merthyr Band website
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See also

*
Big Pit National Coal Museum Big Pit National Coal Museum ( cy, Pwll Mawr Amgueddfa Lofaol Cymru) is an industrial heritage museum in Blaenavon, Torfaen, Wales. A working coal mine from 1880 to 1980, it was opened to the public in 1983 as a charitable trust called the Big ...
* National Coal Mining Museum for England


References

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External links


Rhondda Heritage ParkHeritage Park HotelWelsh Coal Mines website - all the pits with brief histories
European Route of Industrial Heritage Anchor Points Buildings and structures in Rhondda Cynon Taf Mining in Wales Mining museums in Wales Museums in Rhondda Cynon Taf