Declining Industry

The demand for Pembrokeshire Anthracite peaked at the end of the 18th Century. However, as bigger and more productive mines opened up elsewhere, Pembrokeshire's mines began to suffer.

At the beginning of the 19th Century many coal mines in the South Wales Valleys and North England were using steam engines as a power source and method of transportation. Pembrokeshire, however, was not so quick to adopt the new technologies and methods.

The distance of the Pembrokeshire Coalfield from the large markets of the big cities also led to the downfall of the industry. The coal had to be transported over land from the mines to the ports and then it was loaded onto ships and transported by sea to the large cities, such as Bristol, London and Dublin.

The carriage costs in Pembrokeshire were high and this encouraged many mining companys to look at alternative methods of transporting the coal from the mines to the ports. There were a couple of plans and attempts to build canals so that the coal could be transported from the mines to the port along canals. None of these attempts were ever successful.

During the 19th Century some of the larger collieries constructed tramroads. The first of these was built at Landshipping in 1810, linking the colliery with the quay. Another was built in 1832, and this linked the colliery at Coppet Hall with the newly constructed harbour at Saundersfoot. A main line inland to the collieries at Begelly and Thomas Chapel was opened in 1834. The Coppet Hall to Saundersfoot line was extended to Wisemans Bridge and Kilgetty, opening in 1836.

These tramroads did improve the effieciency of transporting coal and this led to lower costs. However, nearly all of these tramroads were horsedrawn, whilst many of the competitors at Llanelli and Swansea were using steam power to transport their coal.

During the latter part of the 19th Century several of the smaller mines, such as those found at Jeffreston, Reynalton and Broadmoor were closed as the result of falling demand and increasing costs. Larger pitts, such as Southwood and Gouts on the West Coast, and Moreton near Saundersfoot also closed due to the slump in the demand for coal.