Castlehill Colliery

Overview

A Shotts Iron Company colliery on the edge of Carluke in Lanarkshire, working coal, ironstone and fireclay from the 1890s until the 1950s.

History

Castlehill Colliery stood about six miles north-north-west of Lanark, on the edge of Carluke in what is now South Lanarkshire, and was worked by the Shotts Iron Company. The Durham Mining Museum records it raising household, manufacturing and steam coal, with ironstone and fireclay, from at least 1894; employment climbed from 272 in that year to a peak of 905 in 1923 before falling back, and the Drumgray and Kiltongue seams were being worked in 1905. The company's pits passed to the National Coal Board at nationalisation in 1947, and Castlehill's No. 6 pit worked on into the 1950s. Canmore records the site as Castlehill No. 6 Colliery and holds a scanned image from a Miners' Welfare annual report.

Geology

Worked coal seams of the Scottish Coal Measures, including the Drumgray and Kiltongue, together with ironstone and fireclay.

Workings

Several pits, of which No. 6 was the last at work; the colliery raised coal, ironstone and fireclay.

Closure

The Shotts Iron Company's collieries passed to the National Coal Board in 1947; the Durham Mining Museum records Castlehill's No. 6 pit still at work in 1954, and it closed later in the 1950s.

What remains

Unknown.

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Calderhead 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

• East Law Colliery — 1.6 km SE
• Waterland Colliery — 1.8 km SE
• Kingshill No. 3 Colliery — 5.8 km N
• Shotts Iron Works — 8.5 km NE, North Lanarkshire
• Home Farm Colliery, Hamilton — 8.6 km W

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.

• Worked by the Shotts Iron Company, whose collieries passed to the National Coal Board at nationalisation in 1947. ¹
• Employment rose from 272 in 1894 to a peak of 905 in 1923. ¹
• The Drumgray and Kiltongue seams were being worked in 1905. ¹
• Raised household, manufacturing and steam coal, with ironstone and fireclay. ¹
• Recorded by Canmore as Castlehill No. 6 Colliery at Carluke. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Castlehill Colliery (DMM c217) — Durham Mining Museum
2. (primary) Castlehill No. 6 Colliery — Canmore (Historic Environment Scotland)

Record created: 21 September 2026 · Last researched: 22 September 2026