Coal mining on the site can be traced back to the early years of the 19th century. The shaft in the image is No4 shaft, sunk in 1941 to a depth of 160m and was in operation until the colliery closed in January 2008, the last deep mine in Wales. On 12th April 1962 a explosion of fire damp (methane and other explosive gases) occurred killing nine colliers and badly injuring a further nine.

After the 1984/85 miners' strike the Tory government resolved to close the collieries and Tower was marked for closure in the early 1990s as uneconomical. However a workers' buy out lead to Tower becoming owned by the miners and it worked at a profit until 2008.

Now the site has been turned into an adventure park by Zip World and the pit head is being restored as a visitor attraction.