Darngavil Colliery

Overview

The Darngavil Coal Company's pits at Greengairs, north of Airdrie, including Meikle Drumgray and the Greyrigg pits, worked from the 1860s into the 1920s. In August 1920 surface water poured into the shafts and a miner, John Shields, went down alone to bring out seven men about to be cut off, for which he received the Edward Medal.

History

Darngavil Colliery worked the coal round Greengairs, north of Airdrie. Its Virtuewell workings appear on plans abandoned in 1868 and 1882, and its Virtuewell, Splint and Humph in 1887. In the 1900s the Darngavil Coal Co. Ltd ran several pits: No. 2, No. 3 Meikle Drumgray and the Greyrigg pits Nos. 2 and 4, where coal-cutting machines were at work by 1911.

In 1902 a miner was killed when the cage was raised as he stepped on at a mid-working, and in 1916 a stone fell on a miner hauling a hutch up the incline called the Cuddy Brae in the Ladygrange seam of No. 4 pit.

On 18 August 1920 surface water burst into the shafts at 1,200 gallons a minute, more than the pump at the bottom could deal with, while seven men were at work in a seam. The engineman ran for John Shields, a miner who lived nearby, and Shields went down alone, went into the workings and brought all seven out (see Disasters, below). High Darngavil Mine was worked by J. Crawford and Co. in 1926.

Geology

The Virtuewell, Splint, Humph and Ladygrange coals and the lower lime coal, with Blackband ironstone, in the Monklands coalfield.

Workings

Several pits, including No. 2, No. 3 Meikle Drumgray and Greyrigg Nos. 2 and 4, with mid-workings off the shafts and machine-cut faces by 1911.

Closure

Unknown.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Disasters & major incidents

• Darngavil Colliery inrush, 1920
  18 August 1920 · Flooding / Inundation · 0 fatalities
  On 18 August 1920, with seven men at work in a seam of Darngavil Colliery at Greengairs, surface water broke into the shafts at 1,200 gallons a minute. The pump could not keep up and the men were likely to be cut off. The engineman ran to fetch John Shields, a miner who lived close by; Shields went down alone into the rising water and brought all seven out. He was awarded the Edward Medal.

Recorded claims

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

• The Darngavil Coal Co. Ltd worked the colliery in 1902-1913. ^1,2,3
• No. 3 Meikle Drumgray pit and the Greyrigg pits belonged to Darngavil Colliery. ^1,3
• On 18 August 1920 an inrush of surface water into the shafts threatened to cut off seven men, whom John Shields brought out alone. ^1,4
• Darngavil's Virtuewell workings were abandoned in 1868. ⁵

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Scottish Mining Website: Lanarkshire accidents 1901-1914 (Airdrie, Calderbank) — Scottish Mining Website
2. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Darngavil, 1902 — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Darngavil, No.4 Greyrigg, 1913 — Northern Mine Research Society
4. (secondary) Victoria Cross Online: John Shields EM — victoriacrossonline.co.uk
5. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: Darngavil, Virtuewell, abandoned 1868 — British Geological Survey
6. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: Darngavil, Virtuewell, Splint and Humph, abandoned 1887 — British Geological Survey

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