Seven Sisters (: source of the (river) Dulais) is a village and community in the Dulais Valley, Wales, UK. It lies north-east of Neath. Seven Sisters falls within the Seven Sisters ward of Neath Port Talbot county borough.
History
The village of Seven Sisters had always been recognised historically for its coal mining pit that was located in the middle of what was once one of the richest sources of coal in Britain, if not the world, in the heart of the South Wales Coalfield.
Development of many mines, and hence small settlements into villages and towns in the area, was brought about by a combination of a rich deposits of anthracite in the western South Wales coalfield, as well as the construction of the Neath and Brecon Railway from 1862.
Colliery
David Evans of the Evans-Bevan coal mining partnership, had wanted to call the colliery after his daughter, Isabella Bevan who cut the first sod on the land at Bryn Dulais farm with a silver spade on Monday 11 March 1872. However, in light of superstition, and the fact that his own six sisters attended the ceremony, Evans agreed to call the mine Seven Sisters.
Anthracite coal fields always suffer from blow out, and on 10 November 1907, one occurred which killed 5 men. The men who had been employed at the Seven Sisters were transferred to the nearby Blaenant Colliery, which closed in 1990.
Village
With the opening of the mine in 1875, a community grew up around it. The present day name of the village came from the fact that Evan Evans had one son and seven daughters, hence the "seven sisters". At its peak in 1945 the colliery employed over 759 men from the surrounding area.
The first dwellings erected in the village were single storey buildings for the coal miners, named Brick Row,
The palace
In 1912, Evan Evans Bevan agreed to build a village hall, which on completion in 1914 became known as the "Palace." Used for gathering and travelling drama shows, from 1916 it showed films. Purchased in 1925 by the Reading Room Committee, it became the Seven Sisters' Miners' Welfare Society, which later established a children's playing field, a football field and in 1935 the construction of an outdoor swimming pool, completed in 1932. In 1941 the Society purchased the 1926 institute and bowling green, constructed by Evan Evans Bevan. The Society was taken over by the National Coal Board on nationalisation in 1947.
Present day
The former colliery site now has the Ysticlau Park playing field. Some history of the village still remains, with the pit head winding gear sunk in the ground next to the site of the old colliery, and five pairs of preserved sections of railway line indicating the size of the enterprise.
- Dennis Gethin – President of the Welsh Rugby Union 2007–2019
References
External links
- Cwmdulais Historical Society
- Welsh mining history
- www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Seven Sisters and surrounding area