Cefn Hendy iron ore mine, Llantrisant

Cosmicten

New member
Has anyone got photos or explored an old mine that sits under Cefn Hendy, between Pontyclun and Llantrisant in South Wales?

It’s an old mine, I believe all the shafts are filled but two adits remain. One is gated and the other is back filled though you can hear drips echoing from behind the backfill.

ive added a photo of the backfilled adit entrance. I’ve not been in, not something I fancy myself but interested in how much still remains. I have an old map of the caverns somewhere but no idea if there are corridors off the main one and how far they might go.
 

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Cosmicten

New member
The blue line is roughly the path of the mine that I remember from the old map, I‘lol have to try and find the original.
The red X is where the gated adit is, quite easy to get to but padlocked if I remember rightly.
The yellow X is where the backfilled adit is from the first photo I posted. A bit harder to find as it’s well hidden.

I do know of someone who grew up in the area and remembered going in there as a kid in the 80s but he didn’t remember much detail of what it was like and how far he could go.
 

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Cosmicten

New member
I finally found some of my old files. The map was an old map I found in a document on the web, so I scaled it and overlaid it on google maps.

Also some photos of the gated adit I took a few years ago.
 

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Cantclimbtom

Well-known member
From the pics (although maybe not in situ?) that gate looks do-able albeit a tight squeeze, down from above? Wish it was near me, that looks an interesting explore. Wellies and gas monitor and a thin stomach... you'll have to post some pics here for us please :)
 

Cosmicten

New member
From the pics (although maybe not in situ?) that gate looks do-able albeit a tight squeeze, down from above? Wish it was near me, that looks an interesting explore. Wellies and gas monitor and a thin stomach... you'll have to post some pics here for us please :)

Lol, thanks. I'm unlikely to explore it myself, I lack both equipment and experience. That said, if I were to investigate I was thinking more of creating a remote rover with a camera but I can't see me getting a kilometre of cable to run it :)

Yes, the gate might be just open enough for someone. I can't remember how big the gap was though in reality. Might be a bit tight.

I've popped some more stuff here that I have. One of a map from the coal authority showing the adits (two that I've previously mentioned) and where the mine shafts were. As far as I know all shafts are filled. Much of the area is built on now and a bunch of fields here are going to have more housing on this year.

There were two houses on the older estate that were suffering from structural issues and were subsequently demolished in the 1990s due to one of the old shafts causing issues. That was at the top of the first long straight run in the overlay map. I believe they filled the shaft (or refilled it) that was in a carpark behind the houses, the carpark is now a children's playground.

The photo is the back filled adit with a brighter exposure from a few years ago.
 

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Cosmicten

New member
I just got hold of a brand new document which included an interesting paragraph, though no further map but it sounds like the mine might be a little more extensive than the overlay map I already had.
 

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