Barglachan Colliery

Overview

William Baird and Company's colliery at Commondyke near Auchinleck, worked from the 1840s, joined to the Lugar Iron Works by its own mineral line and employing about 150 men into the 1920s.

History

Barglachan Colliery lay at Commondyke, north-east of Auchinleck, in ground that had been mined before the railway came. Plans of abandoned workings at Birnieknowe, Barglachan and Common Dyke are dated 1846. The pit belonged to William Baird and Company, the ironmasters, and a private mineral line ran to it from their Lugar Iron Works, crossing the Muirkirk branch just east of Commondyke station; it was doubled, probably around 1883. In 1857 John Stirling, an engineman, was killed when he fell down the shaft.

In 1896 Barglachan employed 142 men, 125 of them underground, raising household coal, and 170 in 1900. By 1910 it worked the Ell, Low Main, Maid, Main and Major seams for household and manufacturing coal with 156 men; that December Alexander Frazer, a miner of 38, was killed by a fall of stone from between a fault and a slip in his working place. A No. 2 pit worked the Low Maid and Maid seams in 1915, and in 1920 the colliery worked the Claud, Low Maid and Major. In March 1924 John Toal, a brusher of 17, died when a weakened brushing collapsed as he reached for a withdrawn prop. Plans of the Major and Ell are dated 1922 and of the Maid and Low Maid 1924, the last of the Barglachan abandonments.

Geology

The colliery worked the Ayrshire coalfield's Ell, Main, Low Main, Maid, Low Maid, Major and Claud seams.

Workings

Shaft pits, including a No. 2 pit by 1915; 146 of the 162 men at No. 2 in 1923 worked underground.

Closure

The last abandonment plans, of the Maid and Low Maid seams, are dated 1924.

What remains

Unknown.

Related mines

• Gilmilnscroft Colliery — Neighbouring Baird pits near Auchinleck whose workings share abandonment plans.

Recorded claims

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

• Plans of abandoned workings at Birnieknowe, Barglachan and Common Dyke are dated 1846. ¹
• A private mineral line from the Lugar Iron Works to Barglachan Pit crossed the railway just east of Commondyke station and was doubled probably around 1883. ²
• In 1857 John Stirling, engineman, fell down the shaft at Barglachan, a William Baird and Co. pit. ^3,4
• In 1910 Barglachan employed 156 men and worked the Ell, Low Main, Maid, Main and Major seams. ³
• Alexander Frazer, a miner of 38, was killed by a fall of stone at Barglachan No. 1 on 29 December 1910. ^3,5
• Abandonment plans of the Barglachan Major and Ell seams are dated 1922 and of the Maid and Low Maid 1924. ^6,7

Sources

1. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan 21857587: Birnieknowe, Barglachan, Common Dyke, abandoned 1846 — British Geological Survey
2. (secondary) Commondyke — RAILSCOT
3. (primary) Barglachan Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
4. (secondary) 1857 Fatal Accidents — Scottish Mining Website
5. (secondary) NMRS deaths and accidents record: Alexander Frazer, Barglachan No.1, 1910 — Northern Mine Research Society
6. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan 21903428: Barglachan, Maid and Low Maid, abandoned 1924 — British Geological Survey
7. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan 21902753: Barglachan, Major and Ell, abandoned 1922 — British Geological Survey

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