Avonbraes Colliery

Overview

A small National Coal Board drift mine in the gorge of the Avon Water near Larkhall, driven from 1949, whose coal crossed the river by bridge and climbed an incline to a screening plant. About thirty men worked it until 1965.

History

Avonbraes Colliery lay on the Avon Water near Larkhall, in the parish of Hamilton. The National Coal Board began sinking it in 1949 and production started in 1952, though a local history dates the mine from 1940. It worked the Ell coal. The mine entrance was in the gorge, and the coal was carried across the Avon Water by a bridge and up an incline to a screening and loading plant above.

It was a small mine. Its workforce averaged 32 and reached 39 in 1952, and in 1958 it employed 26 men and raised about 7,000 tons a year. The Ell workings were abandoned in 1964 and the colliery closed in 1965, in May by the Coal Board's own list, though the local history has it worked until 1969. Its pit ponies, with those of neighbouring Knowetop, were retired when it closed. Archive photographs show the blocked mine entrance, the bridge and incline, and the screening plant partly demolished. Older Avonbraes workings in the same Ell coal had been abandoned by 1900.

Geology

Lanarkshire coalfield: the Ell coal.

Workings

A drift in the Avon gorge, with a bridge across the Avon Water and an incline up to the screening and loading plant.

Closure

Closed in 1965, in May by the NCB list; one local account gives 1969. The Ell plans are dated 1964 and 1966.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

What's uncertain

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

• Avonbraes mine opened in 1940 and was worked until 1969. (disputed) ³

Recorded claims

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

• Avonbraes Colliery, Larkhall, was sunk by the National Coal Board from 1949, produced from 1952 and closed in 1965. ^1,2
• Avonbraes mine opened in 1940 and was worked until 1969. (disputed) ³
• In 1958 Avonbraes employed 26 men and raised about 7,000 tons a year. ³
• An incline and a bridge carried the coal across the Avon Water. ^2,4
• Its workforce averaged 32, with a peak of 39 in 1952. ²
• The pit ponies of Knowetop and Avonbraes were retired after the mine closed. ²
• Avonbraes' Ell workings were abandoned in 1964; older Avonbraes Ell workings had been abandoned by 1900. ^5,6

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) NCB Collieries - Scotland (Northern Mine Research Society) — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Avonbraes Colliery (NRHE 132030) — Historic Environment Scotland (trove.scot, formerly Canmore)
3. (secondary) Mining — Stonehouse Heritage
4. (secondary) Avonbraes Colliery, Bridge And Incline (NRHE 169688) — Historic Environment Scotland (trove.scot, formerly Canmore)
5. (primary) BGS mine plan: Avonbraes, Ell, abandoned 1964 — BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans
6. (primary) BGS mine plan: Avonbraes, Ell, abandoned 1900 — BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans

Record created: 4 October 2026 · Last researched: 4 October 2026