Wales - South Wales

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BIG PIT NATIONAL COAL MUSEUM

Blaenafon, Torfaen
NP4 9XP
t: 029 2057 3650
f: 01495 792618
e: bigpit@museumwales.ac.uk
w: www.museumwales.ac.uk

Set in the heart of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Big Pit is a complete former working coal mine. This award-winning museum offers an experience unparalleled in the UK, unique to Wales and one of only two sites in the UK where visitors can go underground in an original coal mine. Guided by ex-miners, visitors descend over 90 metres to the very depths of the mine and get a taste of what life was like for those who made their living at the coal face.


 Museum Highlights

Visitors don a hard hat and miner’s lamp before journeying down the mine shaft in the pit cage some 90 metres. Guided by a former miner, visitors can see the underground tunnels, ventilation doors where children would have worked, the stables and the coalface at first hand.

Following the tour, or for those who don’t want to go underground, there’s plenty to see and do on the surface, including a virtual tour of a modern coal mine in multi-media Mining Galleries.

Walk through the Pithead Baths exhibition to discover the story of coal and the lives of people who worked in this dangerous industry.

The original miners’ canteen is open to visitors serving hot meals, snacks and drinks throughout the day.

Essential Group Visit Info:

  • FREE ENTRY
  • Big Pit is open February to November, every day, 9.30am-5pm, last admission 4pm. Underground tours available 10am-3.30pm. Limited opening December & January.
  • Admission is free of charge, including underground tour
  • Underground tour takes approx. one hour. It is suitable for able-bodied persons over 1m tall and requires wearing a helmet and carrying a lamp weighing approx 5kg. Sensible footwear and warm clothing required.
  • Wheelchair access available throughout the galleries and exhibitions on the surface, but the site is steep so wheelchair users need assistance. Wheelchair users may go underground in limited numbers and strictly by appointment (manual wheelchairs only).
  • Behind the scenes tours and conservation demonstrations (above ground) available on request
  • Pre-booking essential
  • Allow 2-3 hours for your visit if you can
  • 10% discount for pre-booked group visitors in the museum shop, coffee shop and restaurant (minimum spend £5pp)
  • Free refreshments for coach driver
  • Free coach parking on site
  • Located approx. 20 minutes from junction 24 of the M4 motorway, and approx. 30 minutes from the Severn Bridge. Close to the National Roman Legion Museum (30 minutes’ drive) or an hour from National Museum Cardiff and St Fagans National History Museum.