 George Insole and his son James Harvey Insole owned the mineral rights to the land at Cymmer.Several collieries were sunk in the vicinity, namely Cymmer Colliery (Old No.1 Pit) (1847), Glynfach Colliery (1851), New Cymmer Colliery (1855), Upper Cymmer Colliery (1851) and Ty-Newydd Colliery (1852), not to mention the several other collieries of Porth and Trehafod.