Wattstown is one of the smaller villages within the
Rhondda and prior to industrialisation was known as Pont
Rhyd Y Cwch, or alternatively Pont-Y-Cwtch, and is still
known today by its residents as ‘Cwtch'. Even with the
beginning of industrialisation within the Rhondda Fach,
the area was seen very much as somewhere to pass through
on the way from Porth to the settlements of Tylorstown,
Ferndale and Maerdy.
Its development as a village began with the sinking of the National Colliery
in the early 1880's. In 1881 two shafts were sunk on land leased from Crawshay
Bailey and William Partridge Bailey by three coal owners Ebenezer Lewis, Henry
Lewis and Mathhew Cope. The National Collieries were worked by a number of different
concerns, including Messrs. Griffiths and Company, and Watts, Watts and Company,
after whom the village eventually became named.
The National Colliery during its lifetime suffered two
major disasters, the first in 1887 where
39 men and boys perished. The second disaster occurred in
July 1905 and killed a total of 119 workers, a loss of life
that completely devastated the small close-knit community.
After the first of these disasters the colliery was sold
to the National Steam Coal Company Limited, later known as
the National Collieries Company Limited. Eventually becoming
part of the Ocean Coal Company combine pre-nationalisation.
The colliery was eventually closed in November 1968.
Above and Right:The funeral of the victims of the Wattstown
(National Colliery) Pit Disaster, July 1905 - The cortege
was reported to extend for five miles, as the head of the
procession was turning into Llethr Ddu Cemetery, Trealaw,
the last were about to leave Wattstown
With the sinking of the colliery in Wattstown and its subsequent
development as a village ED Lewis, in his book ‘The Rhondda
Valleys', describes how the Rhondda Fach had changed so that; ‘The
face of the countryside was transformed and the urban ribbon
of houses in the Rhondda Fach was to stretch from Ynyshir
to Maerdy'.
Despite the presence of the colliery, and the workers
it brought to the area Wattstown never developed to the
extent of other villages in the Rhondda Fach. Although
it had its own church, St. Thomas built in 1896, public
houses, school, chapels etc. it was never to grow to the
extent of many of its neighbouring villages.
This is clearly shown in the 1906 Kelly's Industrial Directory for the area
whereby only four private residents are listed, a curate, a surgeon, a Baptist
minister, and the resident of Glenside House (built originally by Henry Lewis
the supervisor of the sinking of the colliery), this was at the time when even
the village of Ystrad itself a small village had 27 listed private residents.
Similarly the commercial listing contains all the necessities of life in terms
of butchers, bakers etc. but to much lesser extent than other villages in the
locality.
Left: National Colliery Circa 1920
NATIONAL COLLIERY WATTSTOWN EXPLOSION
18TH FEBRUARY 1887
Wattstown's (though the town hadn't been named as such
at that time, being alternately called Ynyshir or Cwtch)
first major mining disaster is described in the Rhondda Chronicle
newspaper of the 25th February, Between twenty minutes and
a quarter to seven o'clock on Friday evening an explosion
occurred at the National Colliery (Cwtch)'. Luckily at the
time of the explosion the 200 men of the night shift had
yet to descend the pit and the majority of the day shift
had ascended, otherwise the death toll could have been a
lot higher. The paper describes how ‘a loud retort was heard-the
loudest and most fearful of the kind they (the workmen at
the surface) have ever heard'. The explosion damaged the
pit top and winding gear delaying the rescue efforts so that
the first rescuers were unable to descend until three to
four hours later. Almost immediately at the pithead thousands
of people from the ‘populous neighbourhood' surrounding the
colliery gathered to hear news of the men trapped underground.
Upon descending, the rescuers were able to send to the surface, ‘almost
immediately', twenty-nine uninjured and nine injured survivors
of the explosion followed by six bodies. The newspaper describes
the ‘most marvellous' escape, that of Samuel Strange employed
as an ostler at the mine, who was discovered burnt but alive,'
while all around him were 23 horses and three men all dead'.
The eventual death
toll of the explosion was thirty-nine men and boys, with
a further six severely injured. An inquest jury sitting
in the March following explosion returned the following
verdict;
‘That an explosion of gas occurred at the National Colliery, in the parish of
Llanwonno at 6.40p.m. on February 18th 1887, whereby Gareth Griffiths and others
lost their lives, and they cannot in consequence of the lack of evidence find
out the cause of the explosion or where it started'. The jury did state however
that; ‘It is the unanimous opinion of the jury that the management of said colliery
was conducted in a loose manner, and not so carefully as the case required'.
In his report on the explosion to the secretary of State for the Home Department,
F.A.Bosanquet is much more specific as to the causes of the explosion. In this
report he pinpoints the exact place and the manner in which he believed the explosion
originated. He firstly describes the mine itself as being dry and dusty, ‘common
in the Rhondda' mines, with frequent ‘blowers' of fire-damp. The explosion itself
was confined to the North side of the mine where none of the men in the workings
survived.
He praises the owners of the mine for providing the best safety appliances then
available, the mine had two fans for ventilation (one a spare for emergencies),
the safety lamps in use were of an ‘expensive description …of admitted excellence',
and water cartridges were used for blasting.
However he is critical of the management of the mine on
a number of points, particularly the lack of an efficient
means of watering the mine and removing dust which ‘abounded
in the mine'. He also criticises the lax monitoring of the
use of lamps and explosives in the mine. The actual cause
of the explosion he believed was due to a shot fired in the
Cwm Nedd district of the mine. He believed the evidence was
clear as to this being the origins of the explosion, he reports
that on the very day of the explosion John Jones reported
gas in his stall ‘worse than he had ever known it before'.
There was such an accumulation of gas that it was sufficient
to produce a ‘cap' in a safety lamp some thirty-three yards
away at the junction of the stall road with the Risca heading.
It was in this area that he believed evidence pointed to
a shot having been fired at the time of the explosion. In
his report Mr. Bosanquet believed that the firing of the
shot whilst the ‘ eight-hour' shift were in the mine clearly
infringed the Coal Mines Regulations Acts of 1872 and he
recommended that ‘proceedings should be taken against Mr.Watts,
the agent and Mr.Williams the manager, for this breach of
the rules'.
THE NATIONAL COLLIERY WATTSTOWN DISASTER
TUESDAY 11TH JULY 1905
‘Calamity at Wattstown-Immense loss of life-
Heartrending scenes' are how the headlines of the Rhondda
Leader newspaper of the 15th July described the explosion
at Wattstown Colliery that claimed the lives of 120 men and
boys. The following week the newspaper called it ‘The Wattstown
Holocaust.' The report goes on to say how, ‘For the second
time during the present year the Rhondda Valley has been
visited by one of those great calamities which has made its
name synonymous with death and unexampled bravery'. For it
was only four months previously that an explosion had killed
32 miners at the Cambrian Colliery in Clydach Vale. This
disaster in the words of the reporter of the time, ‘adds
another to the already long list of gruesome and terrible
disasters', that had befallen the miners of the Rhondda.
It states how at ‘about 12 O'clock on Tuesday a volume of
debris shot out of the pit's mouth, accompanied by an ominous
thud and a low rumbling as of distant thunder.' By three
o'clock thousands had gathered at the pithead and the police
had to form a cordon around the colliery yard. The bodies
as they were recovered were laid out at a temporary mortuary
at the blacksmiths shop for identification, however the extent
of the injuries suffered meant many were only identified
through personal possession, scraps of clothing etc.
The explosion occurred in the nine-foot seam where normally
150 to 200 men worked, however on the day of the explosion
a number of men were not in work otherwise the death toll
would almost certainly been higher. Three men were rescued
alive from the seam after the explosion however two of these,
John Dando and John Reeves, subsequently died of their injuries
leaving Matthew Davies as the only survivor.The Reports into
the disaster by E.Milner Jones, barrister at law, and the
Inspectors of Mines F.A. Gray and J.T. Robson concurred as
to the cause of the explosion. They believed that the manager
had decided to blast through a barrier of coal to drain an
accumulation of water and sludge into the sinking pit. The
original plan being to bring the water up through the upcast
shaft at night which would have been time consuming and disruptive
to the operation of the mine. This supposition was supported
by the fact the master sinker had asked for blasting cable
shortly before the explosion, and a battery used for shot
firing was also taken below ground. Additionally the manager,
Mr.Meredith had descended the pit only fifteen minutes prior
to the explosion, and the bodies of the manager and the sinkers
were found at the bottom of the sinking pit.
Crucially when the water and rubbish had been finally removed from the heading
after the explosion the barrier of coal had ‘completely disappeared. The conclusion
of these reports was critical of the management of the mine in a number of areas.
In particular it berated the management for ‘lax discipline' in the use of explosives
in the mine and for shot-firing during shifts, and the system of watering the
mine. E.Milner Jones actually states that, ‘The evidence given at the inquest
discloses a lax of discipline and a total disregard of specific statutory rules
for the use of explosives in mines' and added that he would not recommend prosecution
as the manager of the mine had himself died in the explosion.
After the explosion messages of sympathy
from throughout Britain were received at Wattstown, the
King himself sent a message which read:
‘The King is anxious
to express to you personally, to the widows, the orphans,
and other relations of those who have lost their lives in the recent colliery
accident, the profound sympathy he and the Queen entertain for them on the overwhelming
calamity which has befallen them. Their majesties feel most sincerely and deeply
for them in their great sorrow.'
The newspaper at the time describes the first of the funeral processions after
the disaster as being four or five miles long, so that as the beginning of the
procession was entering Llethrddu (Trealaw) cemetery the end was only just leaving
Wattstown. The entire length of the procession was lined with thousands of mourners.
A particularly tragic aspect of this disaster was that over half the victims
were ‘lads' under twenty years old as the Rhondda Leader states, ‘Not the least
pathetic in this tear stained drama of human struggle for existence is the fact
that so many boys have lost their lives'.
