Alloa Colliery

Overview

The Alloa Coal Company's colliery on the Earl of Mar's ground, returned in the official lists first as one undertaking and later as its Whinhall and Jellyholm pits. It raised fireclay with the coal throughout.

History

The Alloa Coal Company was founded in 1835 as a partnership between William Mitchell, John Moubray, John Craich and David Ramsay, who took a lease to mine coal and ironstone on the lands of the Earl of Mar in Clackmannanshire. In the 1840s Alloa coal went to Canada in the ships of the Ben Line, in which Mitchell was a partner, and came back as Canadian timber. Mitchell's sons Andrew and Alexander ran the partnership afterwards; it had pits across Clackmannanshire, Stirlingshire, Fife and Perthshire, became a limited company in 1898 and was nationalised in 1948. The colliery the official lists call Alloa is that company's working at Alloa itself. It produced household, manufacturing and steam coal and fireclay from the Lower Five Feet, Mosie, Nine Feet and Splint seams, employing 254 in 1894 and 238 by 1910. From 1915 the returns split it into its constituent pits: Whinhall Nos. 1 and 3, with 149 employed that year and 175 by 1920, and Jellyholm, with three in 1915 and 72 in 1920. Whinhall No. 1 is returned alone after that — 197 in 1923 and 55 by 1933.

Geology

The Clackmannanshire coalfield on the north side of the Forth, worked here through the Lower Five Feet, Mosie, Nine Feet and Splint seams, with fireclay raised alongside the coal in every return.

Workings

The official lists treat Alloa as a single colliery to 1910 and then as its pits: Whinhall Nos. 1 and 3 and Jellyholm from 1915, and Whinhall No. 1 alone from 1923. Reported closing dates for two of them — Whinhall No. 3 worked 1902 to 1919, Jellyholm 1887 to 1921, given up as unprofitable — come from a local history rather than from the returns.

Closure

No closure date has been established for the colliery as the official lists define it. The returns end at 1933 with 55 employed at Whinhall No. 1.

What remains

No account of the colliery site as it now stands has been found.

None recorded.

Related mines

• Devon Colliery — Both were Alloa Coal Company pits on the Earl of Mar's Clackmannanshire ground, worked by the partnership founded in 1835 and its limited successor.
• Zetland Colliery — Another of the Alloa Coal Company's Clackmannanshire collieries, held under the same 1835 lease and the same company through to nationalisation.

Nearby mines

• Zetland Colliery — 1.6 km SE
• Devon Colliery — 2.3 km NW
• Castlebridge Colliery — 3.4 km E
• Alva Silver Mine (Silver Glen) — 4.0 km NW
• Solsgirth Colliery — 6.7 km NE

Straight-line distance, within 15 km. Show on the map.

Recorded claims

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

• The Alloa Coal Company was founded in 1835 as a partnership between William Mitchell, John Moubray, John Craich and David Ramsay, who obtained a lease to mine coal and ironstone on the lands of the Earl of Mar in Clackmannanshire. It became a limited company in 1898 and was nationalised in 1948. ¹
• In the 1840s Alloa coal was exported to Canada by the Ben Line, in which William Mitchell was a partner, and the ships returned with Canadian timber. ¹
• The official Lists of Mines return household, manufacturing and steam coal and fireclay from the Lower Five Feet, Mosie, Nine Feet and Splint seams, with 254 employed in 1894 and 238 in 1910. From 1915 the colliery is returned as its constituent pits — Whinhall Nos. 1 and 3 and Jellyholm — and from 1923 as Whinhall No. 1 alone, with 197 that year and 55 in 1933. ²
• Local accounts of the company give Whinhall Pit No. 3 as started in 1902 and closed in 1919, and Jellyholm as started in 1887 and closed in 1921 when it became unprofitable. Neither date comes from the official returns, which show both pits still returning coal in 1920. (uncertain) ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Alloa Coal Company — Wikipedia
2. (secondary) Alloa Colliery — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 11 September 2026 · Last researched: 11 September 2026