The villages of Bedwas and Machen have long been associated with one another. Until 1973 they were administered together by the Bedwas and Machen Urban District Council. Bedwas was by far the smaller of the two and until the early 20th Century was little more than a farming hamlet. Machen, on the other hand, had a longer history of coal mining which is recorded as far back as 1316 and lead mining which can be traced back to Roman times. Coal mining in Machen ceased around 1920 with the closure of Machen Old Pit. Other pits in this historic village at various times included Pentwyn Pit, Bovil Level and Sun Vein Level. Machen has been relatively spoilt in terms of historical records and books and this site will concentrate solely on Bedwas.
The census of 1811 records a population of just 254 for Bedwas village living in 47 dwellings, over 95% of whom were engaged in agriculture. (The sinking of the Bedwas Navigation Colliery itself brought migration to the district of 2,297.)
By the late 19th Century, there were a number of collieries established in Bedwas .They were all small-scale operations and comprised mining by Drift, Level or Adit workings. The main practical obstacles to coal-winning were always ventilation of the workings and flood water. The substantial investment required to overcome these hurdles and to enable deep workings to take place limited most collieries in terms of both size and longevity. The drift collieries at Bedwas were at Bryn Gwyn, Diamond Llantwit, Cwm-y-Glo, Old Bedwas and Small Level. There were almost forty such collieries in all within the Caerphilly basin during the period towards the end of the Nineteenth Century. To the east of Bedwas (Trethomas did not exist in the nineteenth century), Diamond Llantwit Colliery was situated and was linked to the Cwm-y-Glo Colliery by a tramroad. The Diamond Llantwit Colliery was adjacent to the Brecon and Merthyr Railway as it passed through east of Bedwas in what is now called Trethomas. The precise location is best described as being between the former Trethomas Station (which is still intact) and Graig-y-Rhacca. A tramroad ran South, then under the road near Redbrook Houses before turning parallel with the main road to connect with Cwm-y-Glo Colliery. There is no sign of Cwm-y-Glo Colliery now which was more or less on what is now the site of the petrol station near the Ty'yn-y-Pwll Pub in Trethomas. Cwm-y-Glo employed 200-300 colliers.
Old Bedwas colliery was owned by Mr. T. Thomas and situated at the foot of Mynydd y Grug near Tyn y Wern Farm. This was one of the few collieries locally with shaft-winding facilities.
Small Level was around 50 yards west of B&M U.D.C. Offices and dated from the earlier part of the 19th Century.
The significant ruins of Bryn Gwyn Colliery Engine House are situated along Pandy Mawr Road at the western end of Bedwas village. It has been surrounded by a new housing estate, Manor Park, which has been built over the old workings.The engine house was built around 1868 and housed a steam engine - believed to be a 'Bull' engine - for pumping and haulage. The tunnel under the engine house shown in the 1987 photograph housed a series of rods which ran into the nearby workings. These workings ran for a distance of 900 yards down the slope of the Bedwas-Llantwit seam. The problems of flood water as the workings deepened were an obstacle to further progress and the colliery's end was hastened by an industrial dispute in 1893. At its closure, Bryn Gwyn employed around 150 colliers.
During the last War the resident of one of the cottages opposite Bedwas Church had a surprise when he garden disappeared down a ventilation shaft of the former Bryn Gwyn Colliery! It was, by the way, safely filled up again.