Bonnyside Colliery

Overview

James Dougall and Sons' fireclay and coal mines at High Bonnybridge, which fed the firm's Bonnyside firebrick works from the 1890s until the last mine was abandoned in 1967.

History

Bonnyside lies at High Bonnybridge, just south of the main Edinburgh to Glasgow railway. James Dougall started a brickworks there in 1884 to make firebricks, close to the clay and coal of the Bonnybridge district, and the firm, James Dougall and Sons Limited, worked its own mines beside it, advertising its Bonnyside fire clay works in 1903. The mines raised manufacturing and steam coal, ganister and above all fireclay: the workforce grew from 9 in 1894 to 46 in 1905, 64 in 1920 and 75 in 1940, and in 1954, when the mine worked the Bonnybridge Upper Clay and sent out household coal, 66 were employed.

Bonnyside No. 1 Mine was entered by adits, with highly extensive workings running south almost to Drum Farm, close to the Drum Mine workings, and a further mine mouth to the north-west linked by an access tunnel. No. 2 Mine's workings lay north of the north-east end of a reservoir, reached from its mouth by an access tunnel about 600 metres long under the railway and the reservoir; it worked mostly the Lower Millstone Grit Fireclay, with some in the Castlecary Black Fireclay. The Bonnybridge Main Upper fireclay workings were abandoned in 1959 and the mines in 1967. Their workings have since collapsed, leaving subsidence and a flooded pit at the surface.

Geology

Passage Formation fireclays: the Lower Millstone Grit Fireclay, Castlecary Black Fireclay and Bonnybridge Upper Clay, with coal and ganister.

Workings

Two adit mines (No. 1 and No. 2), with access tunnels, No. 2's about 600 metres long beneath the railway and a reservoir.

Closure

The Bonnybridge Main Upper fireclay was abandoned in 1959 and the No. 1 and No. 2 mines in 1967.

What remains

No open entrances; the workings have collapsed, with visible subsidence and a flooded pit at the surface.

Subsidence hollows and a flooded pit over the workings.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Recorded claims

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

• Owned by James Dougall and Sons Limited, raising coal, ganister and fireclay; mainly a fireclay mine, employing 9 in 1894, 75 in 1940 and 66 in 1954. ¹
• The Bonnyside brickworks was started in 1884 by James Dougall and specialised in firebricks. ^2,3
• No. 2 Mine was reached by an access tunnel about 600 metres long under the railway and a reservoir and worked the Lower Millstone Grit and Castlecary Black fireclays. ⁴
• Both mines were abandoned in 1967; the workings have collapsed, causing subsidence and a flooded pit. ^2,4,5
• The Bonnybridge Main Upper fireclay workings were abandoned in 1959. ⁶

Sources

1. (primary) Bonnyside Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Bonnyside No. 1 Mine — Scottish Cave and Mine Database (Grampian Speleological Group)
3. (secondary) Bonnyside (brickmark) — Scottish Brick History
4. (secondary) Bonnyside No. 2 Mine — Scottish Cave and Mine Database (Grampian Speleological Group)
5. (primary) BGS mine plan: Bonnyside No. 2 Mines, Lower Millstone Grit fireclay (abandoned 1967) — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority
6. (primary) BGS mine plan: Bonnyside Mine, Bonnybridge Main Upper fireclay (abandoned 1959) — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority

Record created: 17 October 2026 · Last researched: 17 October 2026