Brora Colliery

Overview

Britain's most northerly coal mine, working a seam of Jurassic rather than Carboniferous coal — geologically the odd one out among British coalfields — and one of the very few pits never taken into national ownership. When it was closed by its liquidator in 1960 the men bought it back and ran it themselves.

History

Coal was recorded on the Sutherland coast at Brora as early as 1529, and in 1598 Lady Jean Gordon, Countess of Sutherland, established salt pans on the shore and had a pit sunk to supply them — a coal and salt industry two centuries before the Industrial Revolution. Bell pits worked the outcrop along the Links, and shallow working continued until the late eighteenth century, when the seam was probably cut off by a large fault. In 1811 the Duke of Sutherland sank the Ross Pit, 250 feet deep, to reach the seam down dip of that fault, and this was the colliery that worked for the next century and a half. The Brora woollen manufacturer T. M. Hunter leased it in 1914 and the firm of T. M. Hunter Ltd carried on until 1949, after which it passed to the Brora Coal and Brick Company. Brora was never taken into National Coal Board ownership — one of a small handful of British collieries that stayed outside nationalisation. When the pit went into liquidation and closed, the Highland Fund Ltd acquired it from the liquidator and reopened it in November 1961 with the twenty-five men who had lost their jobs back underground, this time as part-owners as well as workers, run on co-operative lines. By the mid-1960s the block of coal that Ross Pit worked, bounded on all sides by faults, was near exhaustion. Two new drifts were begun about 500 yards to the west in April 1969 as the No. 2 Pit; a fire closed Ross Pit in May that year, the drifts reached the Main Coal in July and production began in September. The new mine was dogged by poor conditions and absenteeism and closed in March 1974. Proposals to reopen came to nothing and the site was cleared in 1977.

Geology

Brora is unique among British coalfields in being Jurassic rather than Carboniferous. The coal occurs in the Estuarine Series, laid down around 170 million years ago and outcropping as a narrow strip along the Sutherland coast from Golspie to Helmsdale. The Main Seam, 42 inches thick and the only one worked, dips inland at about 1 in 4.5, with a number of thin and inferior seams below it. The coal is contaminated with iron pyrites, which makes it liable to spontaneous combustion — the cause of a series of fires over the colliery's life, including the one that finished Ross Pit in 1969.

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

Workings

Working began as bell pits on the outcrop around the Brora Links, giving way after 1811 to the Ross Pit, a 250-foot shaft sunk to reach the Main Seam beyond the fault that had stopped the shallow workings. The block of coal Ross worked was defined by faults on all sides, which is ultimately what limited the colliery's life. The last phase was two drifts driven from the surface about 500 yards west, the No. 2 Pit, begun in April 1969 and reaching the Main Coal in July of that year.

Closure

No. 2 Pit closed in March 1974, ending nearly four and a half centuries of recorded coal working at Brora. Proposals to reopen it came to nothing and the site was cleared in 1977; the pithead gear had already gone in 1970.

What remains

The colliery site was cleared in 1977 and little of the surface plant survives. The Mining Remediation Authority holds abandonment plans for both the Ross Pit and the Ross No. 2 Mine, and Brora Heritage Centre in the village holds photographs and material on the colliery.

Little identified; the pithead gear was demolished in 1970 and the site cleared in 1977.

Redevelopment

The colliery ground was cleared and returned to other uses after 1977.

Abandoned workings can be dangerous — unstable ground, uncapped shafts, flooding and bad air are common even where a site looks safe from the surface. This entry describes history and general location only; it is not an access guide.

Recorded claims

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

• Coal was recorded on the coast at Brora as early as 1529, and in 1598 Lady Jean Gordon, Countess of Sutherland, established salt pans on the shore and had a pit sunk to supply them. ¹
• Brora is unusual among British coalfields in being of Jurassic rather than Carboniferous age, the coal occurring in the Estuarine Series and outcropping in a narrow strip along the coast from Golspie to Helmsdale. ^1,2
• The 42-inch Main Seam, dipping inland at about 1 in 4.5, was the only seam worked; the coal is contaminated with iron pyrites, making it prone to spontaneous combustion and causing a number of fires. ¹
• The Duke of Sutherland sank the 250 ft Ross Pit in 1811 to work the seam down dip of the fault that had ended the shallow workings. ¹
• Brora was never taken into National Coal Board ownership; after liquidation the Highland Fund Ltd acquired the pit and reopened it in November 1961 on co-operative lines, with the twenty-five men who had lost their jobs returning as part-owners as well as workers. ^1,2
• A fire closed Ross Pit in May 1969; the No. 2 Pit drifts begun that April reached the Main Coal in July and produced from September, but closed in March 1974, after which the site was cleared in 1977. ^1,3

Photographs & further reading

This page doesn't try to reproduce everything — these are the best original sources found for this mine.

Sources

1. (primary) Brora Coalfield — Northern Mine Research Society — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Brora Coalfield — Wikipedia
3. (primary) Mine plans S717 and S667 — Brora Ross No 2 Mine and Brora (Ross Pit) — Mining Remediation Authority, via the BGS OGC API

Record created: 25 August 2026 · Last researched: 25 August 2026