Site Record

The Llanbradach Colliery common engine-hall seems to be a particularly early example of this type of building that became common in the south-Wales coalfield in the Edwardian period following earlier German examples. These differed from the earlier tradition of having separate buildings for each engine serving a different function. This example built by the Cardiff Steam Coal Collieries Limited predates the Penallta (1906-09) and Britannia (1910-14) common engine-halls of the much larger Powell Dyfryn Coal Company which were some of the earliest built in Britain.

The southern half of the present large building at the northern end of the upper middle terrace of the Llanbradach Colliery complex was the original north winding-house and common engine hall. This twin-bayed building, and the compound double engine and winding-sheave it enclosed, is illustrated in an article by W Galloway 'A Compound Winding Engine' in the Federated Institute of Mining Engineers Transactions 1895-96. A photograph of 1915 shows this building in its original condition but it that year it was extended northwards in a three-bay extension. This may have been when the colliery was converted to electricity and also when additional shafts were planned, a shaft was added to the north between 1920 and 1939.

At least the south-western side of this building had a basement allowing access to the substructures of the engines from the lower middle terrace. The double buttresses on the south-eastern corner of this building indicate where the compound steam-winder was situated with winding cables originally emerging upwards to the north (later middle) headframe tower at this point. The heads of the buttresses have the remains of struts bracing the headframe tower and a similar set of double buttresses to the north of the original building suggest that an additional shaft was originally planned alongside this building: perhaps geological difficulties resulted in it being later re-sited to the north. The interior of the building with its travelling-crane supported by decorated column-like pilasters is an interesting parallel for the interior of the Penallta Colliery enginehall which it probably predates.

The exterior to the south-east and south-west could clearly be seen from the valley and has Pennant Sandstone rock-faced masonry with segmentally arched openings. The three-gabled north-eastern facade has symetrically triple semi-circular arched openings on its upper facade with a circular occulus in the centre. The ridges of the roofs have vented clerestories.

The building remains in secondary industrial use and was recorded by students from the Ironbridge Institute with the Royal Commission in October 1994.

Part of Llanbradach Colliery (nprn 85050).

RCAHMW 14.08.2009 using 'Llanbradach Colliery', Ironbridge Institute Research Paper No. 101, by the Ironbridge Institute and the Royal Commission.