Old Coal Pits, Blaenavon

Cadw's description

Summary description and reason for designation

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

The monument consists of two air shafts, probably dating to the 18th century. They are two of the oldest colliery shafts in the Blaenavon Ironworks mineral field. The Old Coal Pits shafts were recorded as existing by 1812 and may date from the 1790s. They worked the Old Coal Seam and by 1829 were connected to the Upper River Row Drift. From 1863 they ventilated the workings of Cinder Pit. In their earlier phase, Old Coal Pits are believed to have been wound by water power, and the now dry reservoir lies to the north west. They were probably driven by waterwheel rather than a water-balance. The shafts are lined in stone within a few feet of the top, above which they are brick, and are understood to be over 70m deep.

The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance and illustrate our knowledge and understanding of the development of the mining industry in Wales. It retains significant archaeological potential, with the strong possibility of the presence of associated archaeological features and deposits. An air shaft 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.