Argyll Colliery, Machrihanish

Overview

The last coal mine in Kintyre, and one of the loneliest collieries in Britain — a hundred and thirty miles by road from the Scottish coalfield it belonged to, shipping its coal out by sea to Ireland and Holland because that was easier than taking it overland to Glasgow.

History

Coal was worked around Machrihanish and Drumlemble before the sixteenth century, tied to a local sea-salt industry, and seriously from the 1770s, when Charles McDowall took a twenty-five-year lease and had James Watt survey a route for a canal to carry the coal to Campbeltown. Modern mining dates from the pit at Trodigal in 1847, which passed through several hands — the Galloways owned it between 1890 and 1910 and laid a 27-inch narrow-gauge railway to Campbeltown, carrying passengers as well as coal after 1906 — until a fire in the seam led to its abandonment in 1925 and the last pit closed in 1929. Then nothing for seventeen years. In 1943 the Glasgow Iron & Steel Company took a boring licence to test the ground, acquired the field in 1945, and in February 1946 began driving two drifts. Lady Lithgow declared the new Argyll Colliery open on 29 May 1946, and the National Coal Board took it over at nationalisation the following July, when the Main Mine had reached 150 yards and the Companion Mine 103. Production proper began in September 1947 at 25 tons a day. It grew fast: 150 tons a day by early 1950, 250 by that August, 500 by February 1952, with a manpower of 254 in 1955 and an average daily output of 460 tons. From 1948 the colliery supplied all of Kintyre, ending a century of Ayrshire coal landed at Campbeltown quay, and from 1950 it shipped out by sea — the first cargo 250 tons to Belfast, later cargoes to Rotterdam and Copenhagen. Then the geology closed in. A severe crush on the main roadways in 1960 forced the abandonment of everything beyond 200 yards from the mine foot; every development thereafter ran into faulted ground, some of it producing running sand and heavy water. Manpower fell from 273 in 1958 to 80 in 1966, and the colliery ceased production on 26 March 1967.

Geology

The Machrihanish coalfield occupies a low-lying tract on the west side of the Kintyre peninsula, almost entirely buried under raised beach deposits, alluvium and sand dunes, so that the only natural exposures are shore reefs reachable at low tide — nearly everything known about the succession came from boring and from the workings themselves. Six principal seams were present, the Main Coal at three to four metres much the most important, with the Kilkivan Coal also worked commercially. The field is cut about by faults, and it was faulting that destroyed the modern colliery: after 1960 each new development ran into disturbed ground, several faults bringing running sand and water into the workings. Quality was the other permanent handicap — the coal burned well enough but left a great deal of white ash, and complaints came from domestic and industrial customers alike in the colliery's last years.

Geological setting: Faults and Fractures (well documented example)

Workings

The modern colliery had no shaft. Two drifts were driven from the surface in 1946: the Main Mine, at a gradient of 1 in 4, and the Companion Mine at 1 in 2.5. Working was pushed outward from the mine foot until the 1960 crush forced everything beyond 200 yards to be abandoned, after which effort went into stone drifts driven through the West Parkfergus fault in search of unfaulted ground. A 150-ton underground bunker was installed in 1962 to cut surface labour, and BJD slushers were brought in in 1965 in a last attempt to reduce costs. Coal went out over a mechanical boom loader at Campbeltown quay, installed in 1950; the largest cargo ever loaded there was 1,450 tons of dross in nine hours in December 1962. Pithead baths were begun in December 1951.

Closure

Adverse geology, a poor-quality product and the remoteness of the field from the Scottish industrial belt made closure inevitable. Production ceased on 26 March 1967, underground salvage was finished and both mines sealed by the end of June, and the surface buildings were demolished between mid-August and mid-October. The landowner retained the baths, garage, workshops, sub-station and office, intending to turn the area into a camping site.

What remains

The colliery buildings were demolished in 1967 and both drifts sealed. Some of the surface structures the landowner kept — the baths, workshops and offices — passed to other uses. The narrow-gauge railway to Campbeltown had already been wound up in 1932, and its route and cuttings can still be traced across the flat ground between Machrihanish and Campbeltown.

The drifts are sealed and the colliery buildings demolished; some retained surface structures and the earthworks of the former Campbeltown and Machrihanish Light Railway survive in the landscape.

Redevelopment

The colliery ground was cleared in 1967 with the intention of turning the retained buildings and surrounding area over to a camping site.

Abandoned workings can be dangerous — unstable ground, uncapped shafts, flooding and bad air are common even where a site looks safe from the surface. This entry describes history and general location only; it is not an access guide.

Recorded claims

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

• Charles McDowall took a twenty-five-year lease of the Kintyre coal in 1773 and had James Watt survey a route for a canal to Campbeltown, the coal until then being carried by pack pony and cart along the foothills. ^1,2
• Modern mining dated from the pit at Trodigal in 1847; the Galloways owned it from about 1890 to 1910 and laid a 27-inch railway, originally for coal and from 1906 for passengers as well, and a fire in the seam led to abandonment in 1925. ¹
• The Glasgow Iron & Steel Company began driving two drifts in February 1946 and Lady Lithgow declared Argyll Colliery open on 29 May 1946; at nationalisation that July the Main Mine had reached 150 yards at 1 in 4 and the Companion Mine 103 yards at 1 in 2.5. ¹
• Output rose from 25 tons a day when production proper began in September 1947 to 150 tons a day by February 1950, 250 by that August and 500 by February 1952, with a manpower of 254 and an average daily output of 460 tons in 1955. ¹
• From 1948 the colliery supplied all of Kintyre, ending over a century of Ayrshire coal landed at Campbeltown quay, and from 1950 shipped out by sea — the first cargo 250 tons of smalls to Belfast, later cargoes to Rotterdam and Copenhagen. ¹
• A severe crush on the main roadways in 1960 forced abandonment of all workings beyond 200 yards from the mine foot, and successive developments ran into faults producing running sand and heavy water; manpower fell from 273 in 1958 to 80 in 1966 and production ceased on 26 March 1967. ^1,2
• Both mines were sealed by the end of June 1967 and the surface buildings demolished between mid-August and mid-October, the landowner retaining the baths, garage, workshops, sub-station and office. ¹

Photographs & further reading

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

Sources

1. (primary) Coal Mining in Kintyre — D. M. Seaman, with Rev. Father Webb and Duncan Colville
2. (secondary) Machrihanish Coalfield — Wikipedia
3. (secondary) Mining at Machrihanish — machrihanish.net

Record created: 25 August 2026 · Last researched: 25 August 2026