Auchincruive Colliery

Overview

A large 20th-century Prestwick colliery sunk 1911-12, whose two 155-metre shafts worked stoop-and-room beneath the town itself and longwall panels out under the sea, closing in 1973 after over sixty years and four changes of ownership.

History

Auchincruive Colliery was sunk in 1911-12 at Prestwick, Ayrshire, with two shafts each 155 metres (509 feet) deep. It was opened by Geo. Taylor & Co., passing to William Baird & Co. in 1916 and then, on that company's 1931 merger, to Bairds & Dalmellington Ltd, before nationalisation brought it under the National Coal Board in 1947. Reserves lay in two directions: stoop-and-room workings ran beneath the built-up area of Prestwick itself, where full extraction could not safely be taken, while longwall panels worked seams extending out under the Firth of Clyde. Output reached 925 tons a day in 1948, and the workforce -- averaging 659 over the colliery's life -- peaked at 958 in 1957. The colliery closed in June 1973 and was abandoned the following year.

Workings

Stoop-and-room workings beneath the built-up area of Prestwick itself, where full pillar extraction was not possible, combined with longwall panels worked out under the Firth of Clyde; two shafts each 155 metres deep.

Closure

Closed in June 1973 after over sixty years' work, and formally abandoned in 1974.

What remains

No reliable current-condition detail specific to the colliery site has yet been located.

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.

• Auchincruive produced 925 tons of coal a day in 1948, with a workforce averaging 659 over the colliery's life and peaking at 958 in 1957. ¹
• The colliery worked stoop-and-room beneath the built-up area of Prestwick itself and longwall panels out under the Firth of Clyde, from two shafts each 155 metres deep. ^1,2

Photographs & further reading

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

Sources

1. (secondary) Auchincruive Colliery — Scottish Mining Website
2. (primary) Auchincruive Colliery 4, 5, 6 and 7 — Canmore (Historic Environment Scotland)

Record created: 31 August 2026 · Last researched: 31 August 2026