Balquhatstone Colliery

Overview

A Slamannan colliery worked from the 1850s, employing 377 men in 1894, whose last pit was abandoned in 1905.

History

Balquhatstone Colliery lay near Slamannan. It was producing coal by 1855, and in 1860 it was listed under John Watson, junior. In 1893 it belonged to John Nimmo and Son of Clerk Street, Edinburgh, and Slamannan, with James Maxwell as manager. The colliery employed 377 men in 1894, 322 of them underground, raising household, manufacturing and steam coal; numbers then fell, to 306 in 1896, 117 in 1900 and 58 in 1905, when it worked the Coxrod, Splint and Virtuewell seams and was abandoned.

Its early dead included Alexander Gairdner, killed by sandstone falling from the roof of the Cox-rod coal at his wall face in 1863, and Robert Paterson, who in 1868 was carried up to the pulleys when the pinion wheel of the engine broke as he ascended, and fell back into the pit. In 1867 a collier named Baird, thinking the engineman was winding too fast, jumped from the cage at the surface and fell into the shaft.

Plans of the Splint, Coxrod and Ladygrange workings are dated 1887, others of the Splint and Ladygrange 1903, and of No. 3 Pit's Virtuewell 1905.

Geology

The colliery worked the Coxrod, Splint, Ladygrange and Virtuewell seams of the Slamannan coalfield.

Workings

Several pits, including No. 3, with longwall working; 322 of the 377 men employed in 1894 worked underground.

Closure

Abandoned in 1905; the last plan, of No. 3 Pit's Virtuewell, is dated that year.

What remains

Unknown.

Related mines

• Binniehill Colliery — Neighbouring Slamannan collieries; Binniehill's coal lay deeper than Balquhatstone's.
• Lodge Colliery — Slamannan collieries held together by John Watson by 1874.

Recorded claims

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

• In 1860 Balquhatstone, Slamannan, was listed under John Watson, junior. ¹
• In 1893 Balquhatstone belonged to John Nimmo and Son of Edinburgh and Slamannan, with James Maxwell as manager. ²
• Balquhatstone employed 377 men in 1894 and 58 in 1905, when it was abandoned. ³
• Robert Paterson was killed at Balquhatstone in January 1868 when the engine's pinion wheel broke and his cage was carried to the pulleys. ³
• A plan of Balquhatstone No. 3 Pit's Virtuewell workings is dated 1905, and of the Splint and Coxrod 1887. ^4,5

Sources

1. (secondary) List of Collieries In Scotland 1860 — Scottish Mining Website
2. (primary) List of Mines in Scotland, 1893 — Scottish Mining Website
3. (primary) Balquhatstone Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
4. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan 21857360: Balquhatstone No. 3 Pit, Virtuewell, abandoned 1905 — British Geological Survey
5. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan 21924711: Balquhatstone, Splint and Coxrod, abandoned 1887 — British Geological Survey

Record created: 20 October 2026 · Last researched: 20 October 2026