Auchinraith Colliery

Overview

A Blantyre pit sunk by Merry and Cuninghame in 1872, with the rows of company houses that came with it. Six men died in a firedamp explosion in August 1930, and a year later the miners found a notice at the pithead giving them one shift's warning that the colliery was finished.

History

Merry and Cuninghame took the mineral rights and sank Auchinraith in 1872, drawing coal by 1875, on the ground near the middle of Auchinraith Road by its junction with Craig Street. James Merry built Auchinraith Row in front of the pit in 1874 to house the incoming miners, and a larger set of houses nearby in 1876 — Merry's Rows, called Murray's Rows locally. Merry ran his collieries and iron mines on the truck system, the men's wages spent in the company's own shops.

The pit worked the Ell, Main, Pyotshaw, Splint and Virgin coals, and later the Humph, employing 450 in 1894 and 731 by 1920. On the morning of 30 August 1930 firedamp exploded in the Black Band section of No. 1 pit and six men were killed (see Disasters, below). The colliery never really recovered. On 16 August 1931 the men found a notice posted at the pithead telling them to collect their belongings, the company closing that evening at the end of the day: three hundred and fifty jobs gone on a shift's notice, and the seams said to be exhausted. In April 1912 the brick-arched inset at the pit bottom collapsed on two men repairing a haulage wheel (see Disasters, below).

Geology

The Lanarkshire Coal Measures, worked here as the Ell, Main, Pyotshaw, Splint and Virgin coals and later the Humph, with a Black Band section — the seam in which the 1930 explosion happened — about 170 fathoms down.

Workings

Two pits, No. 1 and No. 2. The Black Band workings of No. 1 were about a thousand feet below the surface, and fifteen men were at work in that section on the morning of the explosion while the rest of the pit knew nothing about it until afterwards.

Closure

The colliery stopped on 16 August 1931, less than a year after the explosion, with the seams reported exhausted. The men were given a shift's notice by a notice posted at the pithead and three hundred and fifty lost their jobs.

What remains

Nothing is left. The colliery and its bing ran from Auchinraith Road back towards Main Street; the bing was spread and removed in 1975 to make way for the next phase of the A725 East Kilbride Expressway. Merry's Rows were demolished and the street renamed Elm Street, and modern housing stands on the pithead ground.

None. The bing itself was cleared for a road scheme in 1975.

Related mines

• Carnbroe Colliery — Both worked by Merry & Cuninghame.
• Rankinston Colliery — Merry and Cuninghame collieries.

Disasters & major incidents

• Auchinraith cage accident, 1901
  24 July 1901 · Winding / Shaft Accident · 2 fatalities

  The cage carrying eight men down No. 1 Pit at Merry and Cunninghame's Auchinraith Colliery, Blantyre, left its slides on 24 July 1901, and two of the men fell out and were killed.

  On 24 July 1901 James McGurk, a 37-year-old bottomer, and Henry Tennent, a 17-year-old miner, were descending No. 1 Pit at Auchinraith Colliery in the cage with six other men. In some way that could not be explained, the cage left its slides, the guides that kept it steady in the shaft, and McGurk and Tennent fell out and were killed.

• Auchinraith Colliery inset collapse, 1912
  15 April 1912 · Collapse / Roof Fall · 2 fatalities

  The brick-arched inset at the pit bottom of Auchinraith Colliery, Blantyre, collapsed on 15 April 1912 while two men were repairing a broken haulage wheel there, burying and killing both.

  On 15 April 1912 two men at Merry and Cunninghame's Auchinraith Colliery, Blantyre, were repairing a broken haulage wheel in the pit bottom when the brick-arched inset above them collapsed, burying them and killing them instantly. The arch itself was under repair at the time. The dead were Robert Cox, a 30-year-old bottomer, and Lawrence Mynes, a 35-year-old general jobber.

• Auchinraith Colliery explosion
  30 August 1930 · Explosion · 6 fatalities
  A shot fired in the Black Band section of No. 1 pit ignited firedamp on a Saturday morning. Five men were killed outright, a sixth died the next day, and nine more were burned. Fifteen men had been at work in the section; the rest of the pit knew nothing until afterwards.

Recorded claims

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

• Merry and Cuninghame followed their acquisition of the mineral rights by sinking Auchinraith in 1872, and were drawing coal by 1875. James Merry built Auchinraith Row immediately in front of the pit in 1874 for the miners coming into the district, and a larger set, Merry's Rows, nearby in 1876. ¹
• James Merry, like many early proprietors, broke the mining regulations to suit himself and ran the truck system across his collieries and iron mines, the men obliged to spend their wages in the company shops. More than a thousand men worked for him in Scotland. ¹
• The official Lists of Mines return household, manufacturing and steam coal throughout, from the Ell, Main, Pyotshaw, Splint and Virgin seams and later the Humph. Employment ran from 450 in 1894 to 574 in 1905, dipped to 400 in 1915 and stood at 731 in 1920 and again in 1923. ²
• On 16 August 1931 the miners found a notice posted at the pithead telling them to collect and remove their belongings, the company closing that evening at the end of the day. Three hundred and fifty men lost their jobs, the seams being exhausted. ¹
• The colliery and its bing extended from Auchinraith Road to the ground behind Main Street. The bing was spread out and removed in 1975 to make way for the next phase of the A725 East Kilbride Expressway, which followed a couple of years later. ¹
• The BGS mine-plans catalogue holds a Mining Remediation Authority abandonment plan titled 'Auchinraith' (catalogue 8749, Splint And Virgin, dated 1931). ³

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Auchinraith Colliery — Blantyre Project
2. (primary) Auchinraith Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
3. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans: AUCHINRAITH — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority

Record created: 10 September 2026 · Last researched: 10 September 2026