Auchlochan Colliery

Overview

A Coalburn colliery worked 1890-1968 through a changing succession of five owners, whose No. 9 shaft was the last deep mine in Coalburn to close.

History

The first shaft at Auchlochan, near Coalburn, was sunk in 1890, with coaling beginning in 1894; mineral rights on the wider Auchlochan Estate -- including clay band and fire clay -- had already been advertised to let as early as 1863, when the proprietor was James T. Brown of Auchlochan House. Ownership passed through several hands: Hugh S. Dunn from 1893 to 1902, then W.C.S. Cunningham -- though a specialist railway-history source instead has Cunningham following Dunn and running until Caprington & Auchlochan Collieries took over, without giving his own start date precisely, so the two accounts are not fully reconciled here. Caprington & Auchlochan Collieries employed manager John Neil by 1903, and the colliery's workforce grew rapidly under the company: 356 in 1905, 570 in 1910, and a peak of over 1,300 (989 below ground, 348 on the surface) in 1933. A brickworks making fireclay and firebrick products operated alongside the colliery under the same company from at least 1892 to the 1920s. In June 1931 the company began removing the pumps from Auchlochan's lower levels, judging further pumping uneconomical given high railway rates, taxation and reduced output quotas; Caprington & Auchlochan Collieries Ltd went into liquidation in 1932, and was carried on for two years by liquidator A.S. Macharg with mining agent David Todd, employing several hundred men (reports vary between around 400 and around 800) before William Dixon Ltd bought the Auchlochan pits for an undisclosed but substantial sum in 1934 -- the same liquidation in which the company's separate Mauchline Collieries were sold to Bairds and Dalmellington Ltd, a sale confirmed in a Board of Trade statement to the House of Commons later that year. William Dixon Ltd retained the Auchlochan workforce and pursued a costly dewatering programme of the lower seams. Nationalised in 1947, when the colliery employed 404 men, Auchlochan continued under the National Coal Board, its workforce recovering to 687 by 1954, producing around 600 tonnes of coal a day in 1948 via two brick-lined shafts, No. 9 (99 metres) and No. 10 (108 metres). Auchlochan No. 9 was the last deep mine working in Coalburn, employing around 500 men at the end, finally closing on Friday 13 July 1968.

Geology

Coal and fireclay of the Lanarkshire field: the estate's mineral rights covered clay band and fire clay as well as coal, and the lower seams needed a costly dewatering programme.

Workings

Worked via two brick-lined shafts, No. 9 (99m) and No. 10 (108m); output reached around 600 tonnes of coal a day in 1948. A 1910 government inspection recorded 537 workers (448 below ground, 89 on the surface) at Auchlochan, 145 of them living in 90 company-owned houses near the colliery -- a mix of older one-storey stone rows without damp-proofing and a newer two-storey brick row built under Building Bye-laws with proper drainage.

Closure

Closed on Friday 13 July 1968, the last deep mine working in Coalburn.

What remains

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

A spoil heap (bing) associated with the colliery survives in the landscape near Coalburn.

Related mines

• Caprington Colliery — Both were worked by Caprington & Auchlochan Collieries Ltd, the firm whose managing partner Hugh Shaw Dunn gave evidence at the inquiry into the 1909 Caprington inrush.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• Hugh S. Dunn operated Auchlochan from 1893 to 1902, before W.C.S./C.S. Cunningham; a specialist railway-history source sequences Dunn then Cunningham then Caprington & Auchlochan Collieries without giving Cunningham's own start year precisely, which is not fully reconciled against this record's existing 1890-1900 Cunningham dates. (disputed) ³
• Caprington & Auchlochan Collieries Ltd removed the pumps from Auchlochan's lower levels in June 1931 as uneconomical, went into liquidation in 1932, and was carried on by liquidator A.S. Macharg with mining agent David Todd -- reports vary on the workforce during this period, between around 400 (normally employed at the pits) and around 800 (across the wider Coalburn district) -- before William Dixon Ltd bought the Auchlochan pits in 1934. (disputed) ^4,6
• Auchlochan employed around 500 men at its 1968 closure, per a local-history account. (uncertain) ⁹

Recorded claims

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

• Auchlochan Colliery passed through W.C.S. Cunningham, Caprington & Auchlochan Collieries (Ltd from 1915), William Dixon Ltd (from 1934, bought from the liquidator) and the National Coal Board (from 1947). ¹
• The colliery worked via two brick-lined shafts, No. 9 at 99 metres and No. 10 at 108 metres deep, producing around 600 tonnes of coal a day in 1948. ²
• Hugh S. Dunn operated Auchlochan from 1893 to 1902, before W.C.S./C.S. Cunningham; a specialist railway-history source sequences Dunn then Cunningham then Caprington & Auchlochan Collieries without giving Cunningham's own start year precisely, which is not fully reconciled against this record's existing 1890-1900 Cunningham dates. (disputed) ³
• Mineral rights on the Auchlochan Estate, including clay band and fire clay, were advertised to let as early as 27 April 1863, when the proprietor was James T. Brown of Auchlochan House -- predating the colliery's own 1890 sinking. ⁴
• Auchlochan's workforce peaked at over 1,300 (989 below ground, 348 on the surface) in 1933, having grown from 356 in 1905 and 570 in 1910; it stood at 404 at nationalisation in 1947 and had recovered to 687 by 1954. ⁵
• Caprington & Auchlochan Collieries Ltd removed the pumps from Auchlochan's lower levels in June 1931 as uneconomical, went into liquidation in 1932, and was carried on by liquidator A.S. Macharg with mining agent David Todd -- reports vary on the workforce during this period, between around 400 (normally employed at the pits) and around 800 (across the wider Coalburn district) -- before William Dixon Ltd bought the Auchlochan pits in 1934. (disputed) ^4,6
• A brickworks making fireclay and firebrick products operated at Auchlochan under the same company from at least 1892 to the 1920s, before later Dixon-era brickmaking activity was consolidated elsewhere (Carfin and Auchlochan Brickworks, by 1936-37). ⁴
• Caprington & Auchlochan Collieries Ltd's separate Mauchline Collieries were sold to Bairds and Dalmellington Ltd in the same 1934 reorganisation, confirmed in a Board of Trade statement to the House of Commons. ⁷
• A 1910 Medical Officer of Health report recorded 537 workers at Auchlochan Mine (448 below ground, 89 on the surface), 145 of whom lived in the company's 90 houses near the colliery. ⁸
• Durham Mining Museum's own named-fatalities register lists at least 11 deaths at Auchlochan between 1874 and the 1920s, each a separate single-fatality accident; DMM's own page states 'Disasters (5 or more killed): None found', consistent with this archive's own finding of no qualifying 2-or-more-in-one-incident disaster. ⁵
• Auchlochan employed around 500 men at its 1968 closure, per a local-history account. (uncertain) ⁹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Auchlochan Collieries — Wikipedia
2. (secondary) Auchlochan Colliery, South Lanarkshire — Mindat
3. (secondary) Lanarkshire colliery reference — Signalling Record Society
4. (secondary) Auchlochan Collieries Ltd and Brickworks, Auchlochan, South Lanarkshire — Scotland's Brick and Tile Manufacturing Industry
5. (primary) Auchlochan Colliery (UK) -- named fatalities register — Durham Mining Museum
6. (secondary) Coalburn Co-operatives — World of Tokens
7. (primary) Reorganisation Commission (Hansard, 14 November 1934) — UK Parliament
8. (primary) The Housing Condition of Miners: Lesmahagow Parish — Scottish Mining Website (reproducing Dr John T. Wilson's 1910 Medical Officer of Health report)
9. (observational) Auchlochan Colliery employed 500 men in Coalburn — Clydesdale's Heritage (Facebook)

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