Annandale Colliery

Overview

An Ayrshire colliery of four pits west of Kilmarnock, opened in 1857 and closed in 1928 when its owners went into liquidation. It was reopened in 1934 for an unusual reason: not to sell coal but to feed clay and coal to its own brickworks next door.

History

Annandale opened in 1857 and was worked by Archibald Finnie and afterwards by Caprington and Auchlochan Collieries Limited. The returns give four pits — Nos. 1, 4, 9 and 11 — with No. 1 opened in 1910 and closed in May 1935. Employment was 286 in 1910, 378 in 1915 across three pits and 684 in both 1920 and 1923 across four, working the Ell, Main, Major, Splint, Turf, Wee, Ladyha', McNaught and Tourha' seams. Fireclay is returned alongside the coal from 1920. Caprington and Auchlochan Collieries went into liquidation in 1928 and Annandale closed. The liquidator carried the business on from April 1932, sold the Auchlochan pits to William Dixon Limited and Mauchline Colliery to Bairds and Dalmellington, and was left with the Annandale brickworks and the flooded Annandale colliery. In September 1934 the Kilmarnock Herald reported mining resumed. Water had been left to rise in the shafts through the idle years; thirty men were pumping and excavating clay and coal, new coal cutting machines were being installed, and a further hundred men were expected. The reason was the brickworks next door, then turning out a million and three quarter bricks a month, about sixty-four thousand a day, many of them shipped to Ireland and others going to housing schemes in Glasgow and the south of Scotland. The clay in the Annandale workings was described as particularly good for all classes of fireclay work. So the pit came back to feed the brick kilns, and the bricks went abroad. One of them is set in a feature wall at Bangor in County Down.

Geology

The Ayrshire coalfield seams the returns name — Ell, Main, Major, Splint, Turf, Wee, Ladyha', McNaught and Tourha' — with fireclay returned alongside the coal from 1920. The clay was described in 1934 as particularly good for all classes of fireclay work.

Workings

Four pits, Nos. 1, 4, 9 and 11. No. 1 was opened in 1910 and closed in May 1935. In 1920 and 1923 the four together employed 684 people, 513 of them below ground.

Closure

The colliery closed in 1928 when Caprington and Auchlochan Collieries Ltd went into liquidation, and was reopened in 1934 under the liquidator to supply the adjacent brickworks. No. 1 pit closed in May 1935.

What remains

No account of the colliery site as it now stands has been found. The brickworks at Crosshouse outlived it and was in the hands of Archibald Kenneth and Sons from about 1945.

None recorded.

Nearby mines

• Caprington Colliery — 2.7 km S
• Portland Colliery — 4.9 km E
• Gauchalland Colliery — 8.6 km E
• Fergushill Colliery — 9.2 km NW, North Ayrshire
• Doura Colliery — 9.8 km NW, North Ayrshire

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 official returns give Annandale as opened in 1857, owned by Archibald Finnie and then Caprington and Auchlochan Collieries Ltd., with Nos. 1, 4, 9 and 11 pits, 286 employed in 1910, 378 in 1915 and 684 in 1920 and 1923, working the Ell, Main, Major, Splint, Turf, Wee, Ladyha', McNaught and Tourha' seams, with fireclay returned from 1920. No. 1 pit was opened in 1910 and closed in May 1935. ¹
• The Kilmarnock Herald reported on 28 September 1934 that mining operations had resumed at Annandale Colliery, the first move since the close down in 1928 when Caprington and Auchlochan Collieries Ltd went into liquidation. The collieries were reopened owing to the necessity of finding material to supply the large output of the adjacent brickworks, owned by the same company. Water had been allowed to rise in the shafts during the idle years; thirty men were pumping and excavating clay and coal, new coal cutting machines were being installed, and a further hundred men were expected. ²
• At the time of the 1934 reopening the brickworks were producing one and three quarter million bricks a month, an average of about sixty-four thousand a day. Many were shipped to Ireland, and housing schemes in Glasgow and the south of Scotland were also supplied. The clay in the workings of Annandale Colliery was particularly good for all classes of fireclay work. ²
• The Scotsman reported in September 1934 that the liquidator of Caprington and Auchlochan Collieries, having sold the Auchlochan pits to William Dixon Ltd and Mauchline Colliery to Bairds and Dalmellington for £60,500, would be left with the Annandale brickworks, of a productive capacity of 1,750,000 common bricks a year, and Annandale Colliery, where unwatering had been carried on successfully so that coal and blaes suitable for the brickworks was now being produced. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Annandale Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Annandale Brickworks, Crosshouse, Kilmarnock — Scotland's Brick and Tile Manufacturing Industry

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