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. The colliery's workforce averaged 659 over its working life, peaking at 958 in 1957; in 1948 it employed 707 men and produced around 925 tons of coal a day (roughly 231,250 tons a year).

Geology

Coal of the Ayrshire field, worked stoop-and-room under the built-up area of Prestwick, where full extraction could not safely be taken, and by longwall panels in seams running out under the Firth of Clyde.

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

Nothing is recorded of the colliery site's own present condition.

Related mines

• Enterkine Colliery — Neighbouring Annbank-district collieries of George Taylor and Co., both sold to William Baird and Co. in 1916.

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
• Auchincruive's workforce averaged 659 over its working life, peaking at 958 in 1957; in 1948 it employed 707 men, producing around 925 tons of coal a day. ³

Photographs & further reading

Sources

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

Record created: 31 August 2026 · Last researched: 1 September 2026