St David's Colliery

Cadw's description

Summary description and reason for designation

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Ancient Monument.

The monument consists of a coal mine, dating to the 19th century. The colliery was sunk by the Llangenech Coal Co. from 1825. It was the deepest mine in the South Wales Coal field. It became the nodal centre for a number of associated pits linked by horse-drawn railways exploiting the construction by the Company of the Llanelli Railway in 1833 to the New Dock at Llanelli. The remains include the substantial buttressed walls of a stone pumping engine house, the heapstead, several other low stone walls remaining from ancillary buildings and engine houses, and the massive steam-powered incline house for a railway incline to Penprys Colliery.

The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance and illustrate our knowledge and understanding of the development of the coalmining industry in Wales. It retains significant archaeological potential, with the strong possibility of the presence of associated archaeological features and deposits. A caol mine may be part of a larger cluster of industrial monuments and their importance can further enhanced by their group value.

The scheduled area comprises the remains described and areas around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive. It measures 90m x 30m.