Cwmdare Colliery, Powell's Pit, later Bwllfa No.3 Pit, was sunk in Cwmdare, 1.5 km west of Aberdare, and the first coal was raised in 1856. The colliery was resuscitated around 1906, having been closed, and new buildings erected including a power house to supply electricity to the mine. The building was dated 1906 and had king-strut roof trusses and semi-circular headed cast-iron window frames; there was a chimney at the south east end. The mine closed finally in 1936 and the power house, devoid of machinery, was still standing in 1965, but the site was demolished and landscaped in the early 1970s, forming part of the Dare Valley Country Park.
(See also: NMR site file Glamorgan/Industrial/SN90SE: Council for British Archaeology Industrial Archaeology Report Card of 15 July 1965)
B.A.Malaws, RCAHMW, 29 January 2009.