Craigrie Colliery

Overview

A pit a mile south-west of Clackmannan, just south of Clackmannan Tower, opened by the Devon Iron Company in 1852, worked by the Tulligarth Coal Company, and reopened and re-equipped by the Alloa Coal Company in 1942. It closed in August 1952, its lower seams left to the new Forthbank mine.

History

Coal was worked at Craigrie, south-west of Clackmannan, long before the colliery of the nineteenth century: Lord Eldin sketched a pit there about 1770, and a print shows it working in 1835. The Devon Iron Company opened Craigrie in 1852, sinking a new pit in which a miner, Thomas King, was killed that April while a mine was being driven from the pit bottom. The Tulligarth Coal Company held it in 1938 and 1939, and the Nine Feet seam was abandoned in 1942.

The Alloa Coal Company acquired Craigrie in 1942 and re-equipped it. Its single shaft was 56 metres (30½ fathoms) deep, with a connection to a surface mine, and it worked the Mosie, Lower Five Feet and Splint for household and steam coal. In 1948, under the National Coal Board, it raised 200 tons a day, 50,000 tons a year, with 157 employees; it had no washer and no baths, only a canteen without cooked meals and a first-aid room, and bought its electricity from the Scottish Central Supply Company. Mining at the nearby hamlet of Westfield continued through Craigrie until about 1950.

With its seams expected to be exhausted within two years, Craigrie closed in August 1952, and its lower seams were to be worked from the new surface mine at Forthbank in Alloa. The plans of its Mosie, Lower Five Foot and Splint workings, with Tulligarth's, were lodged as abandoned in 1957.

Geology

Clackmannanshire coalfield: the Mosie, Lower Five Feet, Splint and Nine Feet seams.

Workings

One shaft, 56 m (30½ fathoms), with a connection to a surface mine; no washer.

Closure

Closed in August 1952 as its seams neared exhaustion; the lower seams were to be worked from Forthbank. Abandoned in 1957.

What remains

Minor remnants survive, hard standing and low walls, just across the road from Craigrie farm; the site is used by the farm for storage.

Hard standing and low walls.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Alloa Colliery — Both worked by the Alloa Coal Company.
• Bannockburn Colliery — Both worked by the Alloa Coal Company.
• Brucefield Colliery — Both worked by the Alloa Coal Company.
• Devon Colliery — Both worked by the Alloa Coal Company.
• Tillicoultry Colliery — Both worked by the Alloa Coal Company.
• Zetland Colliery — Both worked by the Alloa Coal Company.

Recorded claims

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

• Craigrie was opened in 1852 by the Devon Iron Company. ¹
• Lord Eldin sketched a pit at Craigrie about 1770, and a print shows it working in 1835. ²
• The Alloa Coal Company acquired Craigrie in 1942 and re-equipped it. ^1,3
• Craigrie had one shaft, 56 m (30½ fathoms) deep, working the Mosie, Lower Five Feet and Splint seams. ^3,2
• In 1948 Craigrie produced 200 tons a day, 50,000 tons a year, with 157 employees. ³
• In 1947 the colliery raised 52,871 tons with 141 employees. ⁴
• Craigrie closed in August 1952 and was abandoned in 1957. ^1,3,5
• Craigrie's lower seams were to be worked from a new surface mine at Forthbank in Alloa. ^1,2
• Mining at Westfield continued through Craigrie Mine under various owners until about 1950. ⁶
• The Nine Feet seam at Craigrie was abandoned in 1942. ⁷

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Clackmannanshire's Mines — Clackmannanshire.scot
2. (secondary) Third Statistical Account - Clackmannan Parish — Clackmannanshire.scot
3. (secondary) Craigrie Colliery (NRHE 130813) — Historic Environment Scotland (trove.scot, formerly Canmore)
4. (primary) Craigrie Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
5. (primary) BGS mine plan: Craigrie and Tulligarth, Mosie, abandoned 1957 — BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans
6. (secondary) Westfield — Clackmannanshire.scot
7. (primary) BGS mine plan: Craigrie, Nine Feet, abandoned 1942 — BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans

Record created: 4 October 2026 · Last researched: 4 October 2026