Blantyreferme Colliery

Overview

Blantyreferme stood on the Clyde between Blantyre and Uddingston, eight and a half miles south-east of Glasgow, and was sunk by A. G. Moore and Co. in the mid-1890s — the Lists of Mines return thirty-two people 'sinking' in 1894. It grew quickly into one of the larger Lanarkshire pits: 209 people in 1900, 572 in 1910, 773 in 1920. It worked the Ell, Main, Upper and Virgin coals and raised 180,000 tons for the National Coal Board in 1947. By 1954 it was returned as two separate undertakings, the No. 3 pit and the Nos. 1 and 2, employing 865 between them.

History

A. G. Moore and Co. were sinking Blantyreferme in 1894, when thirty-two people were returned at the colliery, eighteen of them below ground. Production followed quickly: 209 people in 1900 raising household, manufacturing and steam coal, 371 in 1905, 572 in 1910 and 586 in 1915. The peak came in 1920 with 773, of whom 643 worked below ground, and the figure then settled at 656 for the whole period from 1923 to 1947 — the same number returned in 1923, 1933, 1940 (under the name Uddingstone) and 1947. The Ell, Upper and Virgin coals are named in 1910 and the Main is added in 1915. At nationalisation the colliery raised 180,000 tons. By 1954 it was being returned as two undertakings, the No. 3 pit with 410 people and the Nos. 1 and 2 with 455, both still raising household, manufacturing and steam coal.

Geology

Blantyreferme worked the Ell, Main, Upper and Virgin coals of the Lanarkshire coalfield on the low ground beside the Clyde — the same Ell coal worked across the Lanarkshire and Ayrshire fields, and the Virgin coal that gives its name to workings across the district.

Geological setting: Sedimentary Beds and Seams (well documented example)

Workings

At least three shafts, returned as the No. 3 pit and the Nos. 1 and 2 pits by 1954, when the colliery appears in the Lists of Mines as two separate undertakings on the same ground.

Closure

The closure date is not known. The colliery was still at work in 1954 as two undertakings, the No. 3 pit and the Nos. 1 and 2, employing 865 people between them. Its ground between Blantyre and Uddingston is now industrial estate and technology park.

What remains

Nothing of the colliery survives. The ground between High Blantyre and Uddingston is now taken up by the Blantyre Industrial Estate and the Hamilton International Technology Park.

Nothing of the colliery survives; the ground is industrial estate and technology park.

Related mines

• Bardykes Colliery — After Bardykes' No. 2 shaft collapsed in 1949 its workings were reached by a new mine road driven from Blantyreferme No. 3 (Newton) pit, and the Mining Remediation Authority holds combined plans of the two.
• Newton Colliery, Cambuslang — Both owned by A. G. Moore and Co. by 1929.
• Shieldmains Colliery — Both worked by A. G. Moore and Co.

What's uncertain

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

• The BGS mine-plans catalogue holds a Mining Remediation Authority abandonment plan titled 'Blantyreferme' (catalogue S430, Virgin, dated 1947); the catalogue gives no location and the plan's details do not clearly tie it to this working, so it may belong to another of the same name. (uncertain) ²

Recorded claims

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

• The Lists of Mines return thirty-two people at Blantyreferme in 1894, eighteen of them below ground, with the colliery recorded as sinking. ¹
• Employment rose from 209 people in 1900 to 572 in 1910 and a peak of 773 in 1920, then stood at 656 in every return from 1923 to 1947. ¹
• The Ell, Upper and Virgin coals are returned in 1910 and the Main is added in 1915. ¹
• By 1954 the colliery was returned as two undertakings, the No. 3 pit with 410 people and the Nos. 1 and 2 with 455. ¹
• A. G. Moore and Co., later A. G. Moore and Co. Ltd, worked the colliery until nationalisation; it raised 180,000 tons in 1947. ¹
• The BGS mine-plans catalogue holds a Mining Remediation Authority abandonment plan titled 'Blantyreferme' (catalogue S430, Virgin, dated 1947); the catalogue gives no location and the plan's details do not clearly tie it to this working, so it may belong to another of the same name. (uncertain) ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Durham Mining Museum: Blantyreferme Colliery — Durham Mining Museum, from the Lists of Mines
2. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans: BLANTYREFERME — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority
3. (primary) Accidents in the Scottish coalfields — Scottish Mining Website, from the Inspector of Mines reports

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