Calderhead Colliery

Overview

A Lanarkshire colliery at Shotts, also called Muiracre, worked from 1850 to 1958 and latterly by the Shotts Iron Company; three of its bings still stand.

History

Calderhead Colliery, also known as Muiracre Colliery, stood at Shotts, some eleven miles north-north-west of Lanark in North Lanarkshire. The Durham Mining Museum dates it from 1850 and records Andrew Darling as an early owner before the Shotts Iron Company, which held it until the pits passed to the National Coal Board in 1947. It raised gas, household, manufacturing and steam coal, and blaes; recorded employment was small in the 1890s — seventeen in 1894 and only eight in 1896 — but reached 571 by 1947, working the Main and Mill seams. The colliery closed in 1958. Canmore records three bings surviving on the site, beside the later Easter Baton opencast working, and holds a series of Royal Commission aerial photographs of it.

Geology

Worked the Main and Mill coal seams of the Scottish Coal Measures, and blaes (combustible shale).

Workings

Worked from several pits, the Nos. 3 and 4 being the last at work, on the Main and Mill seams.

Closure

Closed in 1958, after the pits had passed to the National Coal Board in 1947.

What remains

Cleared; the colliery buildings are gone.

Three spoil bings survive on the site, recorded from the air by the Royal Commission.

Redevelopment

The ground alongside was later worked as the Easter Baton opencast.

Related mines

• Castlehill Colliery — Both worked by the Shotts Iron Company in the Lanarkshire coalfield.
• Northfield Colliery — Both worked by the Shotts Iron Company in the Lanarkshire coalfield.

Nearby mines

• Northfield Colliery — 1.4 km SE
• Shotts Iron Works — 1.5 km S
• Blairmuckhill Colliery — 3.8 km N
• Fallahill Colliery — 4.1 km E, West Lothian
• Kingshill No. 3 Colliery — 4.4 km SW, South Lanarkshire

Straight-line distance, within 15 km. Show on the map.

Recorded claims

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

• Recorded from 1850 under Andrew Darling and later the Shotts Iron Company, passing to the National Coal Board in 1947. ¹
• Employment was seventeen in 1894 and eight in 1896, reaching 571 by 1947. ¹
• Worked the Main and Mill seams. ¹
• Dated from 1850 and closed in 1958. ¹
• Three spoil bings survive on the site. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Calderhead Colliery (DMM c210) — Durham Mining Museum
2. (primary) Calderhead 3 and 4 Colliery — Canmore (Historic Environment Scotland)

Record created: 22 September 2026 · Last researched: 22 September 2026