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Cwmdu Air Shaft & Fan is a post-medieval and modern ventilation structure located in Wales, protected as a scheduled monument by Cadw under reference GM460. The shaft was driven through the Pennine Middle Coal Measures Formation and South Wales Middle Coal Measures Formation, a sequence of mudstone, siltstone, sandstone, coal, ironstone and ferricrete deposits laid down during the Moscovian period of the Carboniferous. Such air shafts were essential infrastructure in deep coal mining operations, serving to draw fresh air through underground workings and expel foul air and gases, thus improving safety and working conditions for miners. The fan mechanism at the surface would have been powered by steam or, later, electricity to create the necessary draught. The survival of both shaft and fan at Cwmdu represents an important remnant of Wales's industrial mining heritage, illustrating the engineering solutions required to work the considerable coal seams beneath the site.
Cwmdu Air Shaft & Fan is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference GM460. View the official record →
Cwmdu Air Shaft & Fan is a post-medieval and modern ventilation structure located in Wales, protected as a scheduled monument by Cadw under reference GM460.
Cwmdu Air Shaft & Fan dates from the post medieval/modern period, and is classified as a air shaft. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Cwmdu Air Shaft & Fan is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Cadw — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Wales. The official designation reference is GM460.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Darren Fawr Round Cairns (2.8 km), Rhos-Gwawr cairn cemetery (6 km), Remains of Iron Furnace at Cwmaman (6.4 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Cwmdu Air Shaft & Fan's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Cwmdu Air Shaft & Fan stands on Pennine Middle Coal Measures Formation And South Wales Middle Coal Measures Formation (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Moscovian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone, sandstone, coal, ironstone and ferricrete.