Big Pit National Coal Museum

Big Pit National Coal Museum stands on the edge of Blaenavon, a town shaped by iron and coal in the Welsh valleys. The site began as an iron mine in the early 19th century, driven by hand into the mountainside before dynamite was used. Later it became one of the largest collieries in South Wales, winding coal from deep seams until its closure in 1980. Today it forms part of the Blaenavon Industrial Landscape, a World Heritage Site recognised for its role in the Industrial Revolution. The museum preserves the winding gear, pithead baths and underground workings, telling the story of generations who laboured here. A preserved railway runs alongside, linking the site to the wider heritage network. Visitors can still see Engine Pit Level, an old iron adit now used as an emergency route.

The museum is important because it keeps alive the memory of Welsh coal mining during its peak years. By 1923 over 1,400 men worked at Big Pit, producing more than 250,000 tons of coal each year. Coal from here reached markets as far as South America, transported by the railway that once served the pit. The mine was among the first to use electricity for haulage, ventilation and pumping, replacing manual effort. In 1939 pithead baths were installed, improving miners’ health and easing the burden on their families. After nationalisation in 1947, the National Coal Board continued operations until the drift mine took over in the 1970s.

Inside the museum, visitors descend 90 metres underground in the original cage to walk the coalfaces and stables. The underground tour follows the Horn, No. 2 Yard and Old Coal seams, where miners once cut coal by hand. Above ground, the winding house, fan house and pithead baths remain intact, showing how the site operated for a century. The museum also displays artefacts such as a flange-less dram found in Engine Pit Level. Outside, paths lead through reclaimed colliery land and past the restored Black Lion washery. The adjacent Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway offers a short steam journey to Waunavon, completing the journey from pit to port.