Bredisholm Colliery

Overview

A group of numbered pits on the Bredisholm estate at Bargeddie, east of Glasgow, linked to the Monkland Canal by a tram road and from 1847 by the Drumpeller Railway. The Glasgow Iron and Steel Co. worked No. 1 pit in 1895 and United Collieries the colliery from 1902 into the 1930s.

History

Bredisholm Colliery worked the coal of the Bredisholm estate at Bargeddie, between Baillieston and Uddingston. Its pits were numbered at least to No. 6, with the Ellismuir pits and a brickworks; plans of the estate's Pyotshaw and Main workings date from 1853. The Drumpeller Railway of 1847 connected the Monkland Canal at Cuilhill to the Drumpeller estate and in particular the Bredisholm pits.

In April 1895 the oversman of No. 1 pit, then belonging to the Glasgow Iron and Steel Company, was killed by a stone from the roof while clearing a fall he had broken with dynamite. By 1902 the colliery belonged to United Collieries Ltd, which worked Nos. 2 and 3 pits at Nackerty; in March 1918 gas fired in No. 2 pit, the colliery's first fatal gas explosion, and a drawer died.

Deaths at Bredisholm are recorded until 1934; the Bredisholm, Bargeddie and Rhynds workings were abandoned in 1897 and the Virgin coal in 1930. A timber post in the field now marks the shaft of No. 1 pit.

Geology

The Pyotshaw, Main, Splint, Virgin and Kiltongue coals of the Lanarkshire coalfield, as named on the Bredisholm estate plans.

Workings

Numbered pits (Bredisholm Nos. 1 to 4 and 6, and Ellismuir Nos. 2 and 3), with a brickworks, served by the Drumpeller Railway and an earlier tram road.

Closure

Unknown. The Virgin coal was abandoned in 1930, and deaths at the colliery are recorded until 1934.

What remains

The site of Bredisholm No. 1 pit is a field, with a timber post marking the shaft.

A marker post over the No. 1 shaft; the old tram road and the Drumpeller Railway trackbed.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Calderbank Colliery — Joint abandonment plans of 1931-33 cover Bredisholm, Ellismuir and Calderbank workings in the same seams under United Collieries.

Recorded claims

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

• The Drumpeller Railway of 1847 connected the Monkland Canal to the Drumpeller estate and in particular the Bredisholm pits. ¹
• In April 1895 No. 1 pit, Bredisholm Colliery, belonged to the Glasgow Iron and Steel Company. ²
• United Collieries Ltd owned Bredisholm in 1902-1925. ^3,4
• A gas explosion in Bredisholm No. 2 pit in March 1918 killed a drawer. ⁵
• Bredisholm Collieries had pits numbered 1 to 4 and 6, served by the Drumpeller Railway. ⁶
• The Bredisholm, Bargeddie and Rhynds workings were abandoned in 1897. ⁷

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) RailScot: Drumpeller Railway — RailScot
2. (secondary) Scottish Mining Website: Accidents 1855-1870 to 1880, Lanarkshire (Coatbridge) — Scottish Mining Website
3. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Bredisholm, 1902 — Northern Mine Research Society
4. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Bredisholm, 1925 — Northern Mine Research Society
5. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Bredisholm, No.2 Pit, 1918 — Northern Mine Research Society
6. (secondary) RailScot: Bredisholm Collieries Pit No 1 — RailScot
7. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: Bredisholm, Bargeddie, Rhynds, Splint, Virgin, Main and Pyotshaw, abandoned 1897 — British Geological Survey
8. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: Bredisholm estate, Pyotshaw and Main, abandoned 1853 — British Geological Survey
9. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: Bredisholm, Virgin, abandoned 1930 — British Geological Survey

Record created: 13 October 2026 · Last researched: 13 October 2026