Neilsland Colliery inrush, 1916

On 26 April 1916 washery sludge used to fill the old No. 3 Eddlewood shaft burst into the Ell Coal workings of John Watson Ltd's Neilsland Colliery, Hamilton, and buried five men.

Cause

The old Eddlewood No. 3 shaft, filled with liquid sludge from a coal washer, gave way as men drove a road towards it to take out pillars of Ell Coal; the inspector thought the barring of the shaft had probably collapsed and the roof above the Ell Coal failed.

What happened

Neilsland had taken over the coal round the abandoned Eddlewood Colliery, and a party of men were driving roads into the Eddlewood Ell Coal to take out the pillars left near the old No. 3 shaft, keeping boreholes in advance. About midday on 26 April 1916 the refuse in the shaft, washery sludge in a more or less liquid state, burst into the workings and filled the roads. Four men in the Ell Coal had no chance of escape; the fifth, near the top of a brae in the Main Coal, was carried by the flowing mud to its foot. The manager James Cook and under-manager James Houston, in an adjoining section, only just got clear. Robert Robertson's body was found embedded in the mud the next day; the old shaft, 125 fathoms deep, was still emptying into the workings, and the cavity at the surface was fathoms deep.

Rescue & recovery

A rescue brigade was called from the Coatbridge rescue station and HM Inspector of Mines attended. Digging went on for days through the still-flowing material; on 28 April no further bodies had been reached.

Investigation & inquiry

The inspector's report (H. Walker) said washery debris might be a safe shaft fill only in an absolutely dry shaft with drainage at the bottom, and that a filled shaft to be holed into later should first be emptied from the surface.

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• On 26 April 1916 five men were killed at Neilsland Colliery, owned by John Watson Ltd, by an irruption of water and liquid matter from the filled No. 3 Eddlewood shaft. ^1,2
• The Durham Mining Museum records an inrush of water at Neilsland on 26 April 1916 with five lives lost. ³
• The entombed men were Hugh Scott, Robert Robertson, John Shaw, Robert Leadbetter and George Stewart; Robertson's body was recovered the next day. ²
• The old shaft, formerly Eddlewood No. 3, had been filled five or six years before and was 125 fathoms deep. ²

Related terminology

Mining terms this disaster is structurally linked to, with the nature of the relationship.

• Coal (contextual relationship)
  Named 8 times in this record, first in the summary: “…sludge used to fill the old No. 3 Eddlewood shaft burst into the Ell Coal workings of John Watson Ltd's Neilsland Colliery, Hamilton, and…”
• Fathom (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the narrative: “…body was found embedded in the mud the next day; the old shaft, 125 fathoms deep, was still emptying into the workings, and the cavity at the…”
• HM Chief Inspector of Mines (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s rescue and recovery: “A rescue brigade was called from the Coatbridge rescue station and HM Inspector of Mines attended. Digging went on for days through the still-flowing…”
• Shaft (contextual relationship)
  Named 9 times in this record, first in the summary: “On 26 April 1916 washery sludge used to fill the old No. 3 Eddlewood shaft burst into the Ell Coal workings of John Watson Ltd's Neilsland…”
• Washery (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “On 26 April 1916 washery sludge used to fill the old No. 3 Eddlewood shaft burst into the Ell…”

Photographs & further reading

This page doesn't try to reproduce everything — these are the best original sources found for this disaster.

Sources

1. (secondary) Neilsland Colliery Inrush - Lanarkshire - 1916 - Northern Mine Research Society — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Neilsland 1916 - Scottish Mining Website — Scottish Mining Website
3. (primary) Durham Mining Museum - Neilsland Colliery (UK) — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 2 October 2026 · Last researched: 2 October 2026