Support quality, independent, local journalism…that matters

From just £1 a month you can help fund our work – and use our website without adverts. Become a member today

A memorial garden dedicated to the thousands of lives lost through mining disasters is to be formally recognised by the Welsh Government.

Deputy Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Dawn Bowden MS, has confirmed that she and First Minister Mark Drakeford intend to endorse the mining memorial garden at Senghenydd as the National Mining Disaster Memorial Garden of Wales.

The garden will also be considered for inclusion on the Statutory Register of Historic Parks and Gardens for Wales.

The formal endorsement could pave the way for future governmental support in the memorial garden’s upkeep.

Gill Jones, of Aber Valley Heritage Group, said: “We are so very proud that our wonderful Garden of Remembrance has now become the ‘National Mining Disaster Memorial Garden of Wales’.

“It is through the determination and hard work of our volunteers, who spend many hours in all weather in order to maintain it to the high standards required for such an honour.

“It is a lasting legacy by our volunteers to the 530 men and boys killed in the Universal Colliery disasters in 1901 and 1913, as well as the many thousands who died in disasters throughout the Welsh coalfields, all of which are all listed in the garden.”

Deputy minister Ms Bowden said: “We are conscious that the memorial garden commemorates not just those who died at Senghenydd, but also at mining disasters throughout Wales.

“Indeed many local authorities contributed to the fundraising campaign when the memorial was established in 2013.

“I am pleased to share this announcement and give the memorial garden and those who lost their lives in mining disasters across Wales the recognition deserved.”

Caerphilly Senedd Member Hefin David has been meeting with Welsh Government officials and members of the Aber Valley Heritage Group to help work towards the endorsement.

Dr David said: “I am very grateful to both the deputy minister and First Minister for visiting the memorial garden and giving it the recognition it deserves.

“This is something I have been supporting the volunteers at the heritage group with for some time and I am absolutely delighted to see their hard work acknowledged and backing given from the Welsh Government.”

Caerphilly County Borough Council has helped with the upkeep of the garden and recently provided and planted 100 heather plants.

Cllr Jamie Pritchard, the authority’s deputy leader, said: “A huge amount of credit should go to the volunteers of the Aber Valley Heritage Group and Hefin David MS for their proactive efforts.

“As a local authority, we will continue to offer any support we can.”

National Mining Disaster Memorial Garden of Wales

On October 14, 1913, 439 miners were killed after an explosion tore through Universal Colliery in Senghenydd.

This was, and remains, the largest mining disaster in British history.

It was not the first explosion to hit Senghenydd’s Universal Colliery. In 1901, 81 men were killed and the mine’s safety procedures were criticised in a subsequent report.

The memorial garden was officially opened on the 100th anniversary of the 1913 disaster.

Designed by landscape gardener Stephanie Wilkins, it was built by volunteers from the Aber Valley Heritage Group and includes a bronze statue, a wall of remembrance and a path of memory.

The statue, designed by sculptor Les Johnson, depicts a rescue worker coming to the aid of a survivor after a mining disaster. It is dedicated to all those who lost their lives as a result of mining.

The wall of remembrance is dedicated to those who lost their lives in the two Senghenydd mining disasters and features ceramic tiles, each individually funded, detailing the name, age and address of each victim of the disaster.

Local volunteers and school children helped ceramicist Ned Heywood to make the tiles, using hand-fired clay.

The path of memory comprises a tile dedicated to each of the 152 mining disasters that have occurred across Wales. The tiles, again made by ceramic artist Ned Heywood, list the name of the colliery and show the date of the disaster, the number of people who lost their lives, and the tile sponsor.

There is also a bespoke tile which acknowledges the lives lost in all other mining tragedies in Wales.