Cwmtillery Colliers Hall

Cwmtillery Colliers Hall.
On Friday 31st of July 1874, the construction of the Colliers Hall at Cwmtillery commenced. The foundation stone was laid by Mrs Rose Heyworth, wife of Mr Lawrence Heyworth, the director of the South Wales Colliery Company. Within the foundations she placed a sealed bottle containing new current coins and a parchment with an inscription of the fact that the stone was laid by her.

Description of the Building.
The Colliers Hall, Cwmtillery was capable of holding 1,000 people and designed for concerts and other purposes, it had a club-house, club-room kitchen and other offices, the cost of the building was £1,400. It was paid for by public subscription.

The hall was built to coincide with the building of thirteen new cottages at Cwmtillery and sixty new cottages at Clyn Mawr (designed by Mr Lawrence Heyworth) along with the construction of the Rose Heyworth Colliery.

The Hall used as a Church.
In the 1870’s it was used to hold divine religious services in Cwmtillery.

The Hall used as a School.
In February 1894 it was announced that the Colliers Hall, Cwmtillery would be used as a temporary infants school for about 280 children while the education board negotiated over the price of land to build a school.

The Hall used as a Skating Rink.
In 1901 Colliers Hall, Cwmtillery housed a skating rink. In 1909 the hall was especially adapted to cater for the then growing trend of roller skating. 

The Hall used as a Gymnasium.
In the 1910’s the Colliers Hall, Cwmtillery was used as a gymnasium, they had their own team of gymnasts and entered many local competitions. In 1911 there was a gymnastics competition held there.

The Hall used as a Cinema.
In 1913 the Colliers Hall at Cwmtillery housed a cinema. Again, this was established to keep up with the latest trends, at this time there were five cinemas at Abertillery, the Colliers Hall at Cwmtillery was the towns sixth cinema house.  On Saturday 14th of June 1913 the Colliers Hall was officially opened as a cinema. The cinematographer was Mr James Barker. 

Colliery Offices.
In December 1922 the Ebbw Vale Company moved the general offices from from the Lancaster Collieries Offices at Blaina and relocated to the Colliers Hall, Cwmtillery Colliery.

By this time the Colliers Hall at Cwmtillery had been extensively altered and a veranda had been constructed along the western facing side of the building for the men to collect their wages. The staff were transferred from Blaina to Cwmtillery.

The Cwmtillery Youth Club.
In December 1961 the Monmouthshire County Council purchased the Cwmtillery Offices to be used as a youth club.

Points of Interest – The Abertillery Cinemas.
By 1922 the town and district of Abertillery had seven cinema houses, as follows – The Metropole, The Gaiety Hall, The Pavilion Theatre, The Empress Hall, The Palace Cinema, The Colliers Hall and the Kino Picture House at Six Bells. When the Palace Cinema closed in the early 1970’s the old National Church School was renovated and converted into a cinema called the Scala Picture House, making the total of cinemas in and around the town to eight.

 (More information to come).