Crumlin Navigation Colliery - The Fight to Preserve

The Crumlin Navigation is a site that will immediately catch your eye as you drive past it along the A467 and it appears through the trees. A fine example of Edwardian architecture that has stood the test of time. But now, new efforts, thanks to The Friends of the Navigation, are in place to restore these beautiful buildings. To reuse and repurpose them for the benefit of the entire community.

Filmed: Autumn 2022
Music: Vindsvept, fantasy -    • Forgotten Magic - Fantasy/Piano Music   - Scott Buckley -    • 🎵Cinematic Uplifting Orchestral Music...  

Entry: Restricted - Access was granted for the purpose of our filming. The site is managed by “The Friends of The Navigation”.

Official Website: https://thecrumlinnavigation.org
Book Events: [email protected]

---- Short History ----
The sinking of the mine shaft began in 1907 and the colliery was complete by 1911. Owned by the firm Partridge Jones.
The Navigation Colliery was one of the first to be built entirely out of brick. Instead of the more common, and less expensive, local stone. The brick was also used in a creative and decorative way. This was done with the intention of constructing an outstanding set of buildings.
It is now considered to be one of the best examples of Edwardian industrial architecture in the country.

The Navigation was constructed whilst the coal industry was booming. South Wales was the largest coal-exporting area in the world.
The coal was primarily used for the rapidly growing merchant fleet, hence the name “Navigation”. A name of distinction denoting the quality of the coal.

By 1935 the colliery employed 444 men.

In 1937, the mine was met with disaster; digging into the Black Vein breached an underground lake. Water poured its way up the mine shafts which led to emergency pumping. The bottom of the pit had to be raised by 39 metres as a result.

Despite the setback, in 1947, when the industry was nationalised, the colliery still employed 415 men.
And peak production was reached in 1954 when 145,129 tons of coal was produced.

By the 1960s, however, the coal industry was in decline and in 1967 The Crumlin Navigation Colliery closed.

The buildings continued to be used after closure for light industrial set-ups, like car and furniture workshops.
The buildings were expensive to maintain, however, and with fire damage and vandalism they slowly fell into disrepair.
The quality of these buildings though, has allowed them to survive and remain one of the best preserved sets of colliery buildings in Wales, and probably in the UK.
The Navigation Colliery buildings have been listed Grade II and II* by Cadw.

Volunteers and the local community are transforming the site into a community project. The process is aimed at gradually repairing the buildings through own labour and community involvement to bring back uses for the buildings once more and create local employment.
The registered charity The Friends of The Navigation are working hard to restore and repurpose the buildings. This includes moving the culvert and establishing a hydro scheme to provide electricity for the site and back into the grid.

#Wales #Coal #Mining #Colliery #Navigation

---- Further Reading ----
https://thecrumlinnavigation.org/hist...
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wa...

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