Bothwell Castle Colliery

Overview

A William Baird & Co. pit near Bothwell, also known as Priory Colliery, taken under direct government management during the Second World War over unsatisfactory output, and remembered for a shaft accident that killed five men descending its No. 2 pit.

History

Bothwell Castle Colliery, also known as Priory Colliery, was owned by William Baird and Company, later Bairds and Scottish Steel Ltd. Its Nos. 1 and 2 pits were sunk or in production by 1875, with shafts of 293 and 346 metres, and its Nos. 3 and 4 shafts were sunk in 1889 to 1,344 feet, alongside that earlier Nos. 1 and 2 pit pairing; all four worked household and manufacturing coal, from the Ell, Main, Pyotshaw, Splint, Upper and Virgin seams. Employment across the site grew from around 460 in 1894 to roughly 1,300 combined across both pit pairs by the 1920s. A shaft accident is recorded at the colliery's No. 2 pit in which five men were killed when an engineman failed to shut off steam in time and the cage struck its seat (see Disasters, below); the Northern Mine Research Society dates it to 1889, the Durham Mining Museum to 1899. On 26 April 1920 an underground motor engine caught fire and four men, among them a father and his teenage son, were suffocated before rescuers could reach them, and several further accidents in the 20th century killed two men at a time. In 1943, wartime demands led the government to take over direct management of the colliery, judging its output of around 650 tons a day as part of the 'war effort' unsatisfactory. Ownership passed to the National Coal Board at nationalisation in 1947, when the two pairs of pits raised some 420,000 tons between them. Canmore records the Nos. 1 and 2 pits closing in 1950 and being abandoned in 1953, while Nos. 3 and 4 still employed 115 men in 1954; upper coal working at the colliery ended in 1959, after which the site was retained purely as a pumping station.

Geology

The pits worked the Ell, Main, Pyotshaw, Splint, Upper, Virgin and, latterly, Humph seams of the Lanarkshire coalfield.

Workings

Two shaft pairs (Nos. 1/2 and Nos. 3/4), the latter sunk in 1889 to 1,344 feet, working household and manufacturing coal. The Nos. 1 and 2 shafts were 293 and 346 metres deep; the pits worked the Ell, Main, Pyotshaw, Splint, Upper and Virgin seams, and by 1954 Nos. 3 and 4 were in the Humph seam.

Closure

Upper coal working ended in 1959; the site was retained afterward purely as a pumping station. Canmore records the Nos. 1 and 2 pits as closed in 1950 and abandoned in 1953, and the Nos. 3 and 4 pits still employed 115 men in 1954.

What remains

A memorial in the form of a colliery hutch stands on Uddingston Road, Bothwell.

Disasters & major incidents

• Bothwell Castle Colliery shaft accident, 1889
  28 June 1889 · Winding / Shaft Accident · 5 fatalities
  An engineman's failure to shut off steam in time sent a descending cage crashing into its seat at Bothwell Castle Colliery's No. 2 pit on 28 June 1889, killing five miners.
• Bothwell Castle Colliery shaft accident, 1895
  22 October 1895 · Winding / Shaft Accident · 2 fatalities
  Two sinkers at the bottom of Bothwell Castle's No. 3 shaft were killed on 22 October 1895 when the sinking kettle caught the shaft timbering on its way up and fell 180 fathoms.
• Bothwell Castle Colliery explosion, 1908
  11 May 1908 · Explosion · 2 fatalities
  On 11 May 1908 an explosion of firedamp killed two men at Bothwell Castle Colliery, near Uddingston, ignited by a lamp whose gauze had been broken.
• Bothwell Castle Colliery fire, 1920
  26 April 1920 · Fire · 4 fatalities
  On the night of 26 April 1920 a motor engine caught fire underground at Bothwell Castle Colliery, near Uddingston, and four men were suffocated by the smoke in a bye road; seven others were rescued alive.
• Bothwell Castle Colliery shaft accident, 1922
  23 August 1922 · Winding / Shaft Accident · 2 fatalities
  On 23 August 1922 two brushers were killed at Bothwell Castle Colliery, near Uddingston, when they stepped into the shaft believing the cage was there and fell to the bottom.

Culture

• Jock Stein (Sports)
  Stein worked here as a miner from 1937 until he turned full-time footballer in 1950.

People

• Jock Stein (1922–1985) · worker, 1937–1950 — Went down the pit here after leaving school and worked underground while playing part-time football.

What's uncertain

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

• Canmore gives the Nos. 1 and 2 pits as closed in 1950 and abandoned in 1953, while the Durham Mining Museum still lists the Nos. 3 and 4 pits, with 115 men working the Humph seam, in 1954; the record's 1959 end of coal working comes from the Blantyre Project's history. (disputed) ^1,2,3
• The Northern Mine Research Society dates the shaft accident that killed five men descending No. 2 pit to 28 June 1889, citing the Mines Inspector's report for that year; the Durham Mining Museum lists a five-death disaster at the colliery on 28 June 1899. (disputed) ^2,4

Recorded claims

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

• Bothwell Castle Colliery's Nos. 3 and 4 shafts, owned by William Baird and Company, were sunk in 1889 to a depth of 1,344 feet. ¹
• In 1943 the government took over direct management of the colliery, judging its wartime output of around 650 tons a day unsatisfactory as part of the war effort. ¹
• Employment across the site's two pit pairs grew from around 460 in 1894 to roughly 1,300 combined by the 1920s. ²
• Upper coal working at the colliery ended in 1959, after which the site was retained purely as a pumping station. ¹
• Canmore records the Nos. 1 and 2 pits as sunk or in production from 1875, with shafts of 293 and 346 metres; in 1948 they raised 480 tons a day, 129,360 a year, with 646 employees, and their peak workforce was 751 in 1947. ³
• Canmore gives the Nos. 1 and 2 pits as closed in 1950 and abandoned in 1953, while the Durham Mining Museum still lists the Nos. 3 and 4 pits, with 115 men working the Humph seam, in 1954; the record's 1959 end of coal working comes from the Blantyre Project's history. (disputed) ^1,2,3
• Between 1910 and 1920 the pits worked the Ell, Main, Pyotshaw, Splint, Upper and Virgin seams; in 1947 Nos. 1 and 2 raised 200,000 tons and Nos. 3 and 4 220,000 tons. ²
• The Northern Mine Research Society dates the shaft accident that killed five men descending No. 2 pit to 28 June 1889, citing the Mines Inspector's report for that year; the Durham Mining Museum lists a five-death disaster at the colliery on 28 June 1899. (disputed) ^2,4
• On 26 April 1920 a greasy underground motor engine caught fire and four men were suffocated in a bye road, among them Donald McFarlane and his teenage son William; seven others working nearby were rescued alive. ⁵
• A memorial in the form of a colliery hutch to Bothwell Castle Colliery stands on Uddingston Road, Bothwell. ⁶

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) 1889 - The Priory Colliery — Blantyre Project
2. (primary) Durham Mining Museum - Bothwell Castle Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
3. (primary) Bothwell Castle No. 1 And 2, Colliery (Canmore NRHE 132062) — Historic Environment Scotland (Canmore)
4. (secondary) Bothwell Castle Colliery Shaft Accident - Bothwell - 1889 — Northern Mine Research Society
5. (secondary) Bothwell Castle 26 April 1920 — Scottish Mining Website
6. (primary) Bothwell, Uddingston Road, Bothwell Castle Colliery Hutch Memorial (Canmore NRHE 374830) — Historic Environment Scotland (Canmore)
7. (primary) Bothwell Castle 1 & 2 (BGS mine plans catalogue, item 21852840) — British Geological Survey
8. (secondary) Accidents post 1914 (Bothwell Parish) — Scottish Mining Website

Record created: 27 August 2026 · Last researched: 18 September 2026