Have a great geological map of South Pembs which shows true extent of coal it's all built on and some sites of old workings, seems to be a few mentioned south of Yerbeston amongst others. There's a heck of a lot of it under there! Sadly will be a bit tricky to get map on here, a photo of it won't do it true justice but may give an idea...
This one fabulous for local history and mentions Thomas Chapel amongst many others..
http://www.welshcoalmines.co.uk My local coal mine was Trefrane at Newgale - which provided the coal to warm Queen Victoria at Buckingham Palace :-)
Quote direct from relevant page..
Thomas Chapel Colliery.
Situated at Begelly, the first pits of the Thomas Chapel Colliery were sunk in 1784.
A new 4'.0" gauge tramway opened in the 1830s and Anthracite coal from this colliery was shipped out of Saundersfoot to the southeast of England for the brewing industry.
On the 16th of June 1838 disaster struck this colliery when an inrush of water caused the death of 6 men, they were James Thomas, Isaac Rees, Henry Lewis, George Tasker, John Bowen and William Phillips, all of Begelly.
William Brace the owner at that time appeared at the assizes on a charge of Manslaughter, outcome unknown.
From the Royal Commission Report, 1842.
THOMAS CHAPEL COLLIERY. St. Issell's parish, county of Pembroke.
Mr. Thomas Stokes, Esq., proprietor.
James Davies, 8 years old, trammer.
David Thomas, 7 years old, trammer.
William Prout. 12 years old, skip haulier.
Stephen Gwyther, 11 years old, windlass hitcher.
George Lewis 16 years old, tram filler and trammer.
Thomas Phillips, 15 years old, skip haulier.
Isaac Day, 16 years old, tram hitcher.
Eliza Prout, 15 years old, trammer.
Hester Callan, 18 years old, windlass woman.
Mary Day, 11 years old, trammer.
Sarah Davies, 15 years old, trammer.
Extra information from Ray Lawrence.
This was the name that covered several workings that opened around 1784. Workings were limited to between the Reynalton geological fault to the west and the Bramble Hill fault to the east. To the west were Reynalton and Loveston collieries, to the south was New Hayes Colliery and to the south-east were Shipping pit and Broom slant.
It had a mineral take of 1,000 acres with the Old Wheel Pit being sunk in 1784 to a depth of 165 feet, the Hay Pit was also opened in 1784 and was 114 feet deep, the New Hayes Pit being 10 feet in diameter and sunk to the Kilgetty seam at a depth of 468 feet while the Hackett Pit was sunk in 1794 and was 174 feet deep to the Lower Level seam. The Stump Park Pit was opened in 1790 and was sunk to the Lower Level seam and was 162 feet deep, the Air Pit was sunk in 1799 to the Lower Level seam and was 108 feet deep, the Horse Wheel Pit was opened in 1836 and was 60 feet deep to the Kilgetty seam, the Pond Landing Pit was opened in 1836 to the Kilgetty seam at a depth of 96 feet, while the Pond Engine Pit was opened in 1840 to the Kilgetty seam which it found at a depth of 144 feet.
Thomas Chapel was owned by Thomas Stokes and Company in 1842. The Royal Commission into the working of women and children underground found at this pit, amongst others, James Davies, aged 8 years and his brother aged 11 years who worked eight hour shifts as trammers for 2 shillings a week. Mary Davies was aged 11 years, and also a trammer, she had worked 8 to 10 hour shifts for two years and had to drag seven hundredweight loads along roadways that were “ never less than 36 inches high. ” She earned 3 shillings a week.
This colliery was purchased by the Pembrokeshire Iron and Coal Company in 1851. The closure dates are uncertain but they were being worked by the Pembrokeshire Iron Company in 1865.
The mine appears in a list 1869, but closed before 1880.
Extra information from Tony Cooke
In 1842 it was owned by Messrs Morgan, Hughes, & Co and twelve years later it was reported that ‘At court on 1.8.1854, Morgan Hughes formerly of Thomas Chapel Colliery, joint proprietor with John Close, John William Hughes and Stopford Thomas Jones and subsequently with John Close and John William Hughes only, trading as Morgan Hughes & Co.'
The colliery latterly comprised the two main sites SN 104090 (Thomas Chapel) and 103086 (New Hayes). The colliery was reported in 1851 “To let, colliery in Pembrokeshire now in full work on the Lower Level vein. A new pit has been sunk about sixty fathoms [180 feet] to reach the Kilgetty Deep vein and is believed to be within fifteen feet of it. [was this New Hayes?]' Only four miles from Saundersfoot and there is direct railway communication from the pit's mouth.” It was then abandoned in 1857 as ‘Thomas Chapel or New Hayes.' It continued to be listed from 1858, so presumably reopened, only to be finally abandoned in 1867 (as New Hayes). In 1875 the Saundersfoot & Tenby Collieries Co. Ltd. was registered to acquire Thomas Chapel and other collieries and it was advertised for sale at an auction on 17.5.1878.
Broadmoor Colliery.
Opened during the early years of the 19th century, this anthracite mine was situated at Begelly.
1842 Royal Commission Report.
BROAD-MOOR COLLIERY, parish of Begelly, county of Pembroke.
Lewis Wilson, Esq., proprietor.
Mr. David Morgan, manager of the Board-Moor Colliery.
Hannah Bowen, 16 years old, windlass woman.
Benjamin Thomas, about eight years old, haulier of skips.
Thomas Howard, aged 16, skip haulier.
Zacharias Harris, 13 years old, skip haulier.
William Thomas, 11 years old, skip haulier.
Elizabeth Lawrence, 15 years old, wheeler.
James Bowen, Esq., surgeon, Narbeth, county of Pembroke.
Rev. Richard Buckley, rector of Begelly parish, county of Pembroke.
On the 13th of May 1844 the chain broke on the haulage mechanism, whilst bringing the miners to the surface killing 7, amongst them were the following, John Harries of Longpark, aged 21 - William Harries, Longpark, 15 - Benjamin Lawrence, Jeffreston, 19 - Benjamin Thomas, Jeffreston, 11 (mentioned in the list above) - John Phillips, Grove, 19.
Extra information from Ray Lawrence.
This was a small pit that was approximately 204 feet deep and worked the anthracite Timber Vein seam from about 1820.
The government investigation into children working underground in the early 1840 ' s found at this colliery Benjamin Thomas aged 8 years, he had been working underground for a year and the only meat that he ate was bacon on a Sunday. His father was dead and his mother, sister and three brothers all worked in this pit. He had no shoes. Hannah Bowen was aged 16 years and operated the windlass. She had been underground for two years and earned 3 shillings a week. She described it as “ good hard work. ” She worked between 7 am and 4 pm and could draw up 400 loads which weighed up to four hundredweights each.
In 1842 it was owned by Messrs. Wilsons and Smith and employed 56 men and 47 females, in 1858 it was owned by Spencer and Cope, in 1865 by Cope and Company and in 1870 by the Broadmoor Anthracite Coal Company.
In 1926 it employed 14 men, in 1927 it employed 8 men, it was listed as not working in 1928 and in 1930 it employed 12 men.
Extra information from Tony Cooke.
I do not have any information on when Broadmoor (This mine was, I believe, at SN 097058) was first started, but I have a note that the BGS Memoirs state ‘The Greenhill shaft of Broadmoor Colliery was sunk 1850-53 to 194 yards.'(Query is this feet?). However, you and Ray are correct in that it was certainly in existence much, much earlier. The mine did not feature in any listings after 1873.
In 1875 the Saundersfoot & Tenby Collieries Co. Ltd. was registered to acquire Broadmoor and other collieries and in 1910 it was reported that “A company has been formed and arrangements entered into to restart the old Broad Moor Colliery, Begelly. Pumping operations will start at once.”
Nothing apparently came of either of these and seemingly nothing then happened until 1926, when W. C. Gunter and a Mr. Brinn started a new mine at SN 095062. This was abandoned in 1927. In 1929, John Butler and George Henry Cook, trading as the Broadmoor Colliery Co., started again, but whether this was a new opening or a reopening of the 1926 mine I don't know. It was however abandoned in 1930, the company having gone bust.