Dundonald Colliery

Overview

An ancient Cardenden coalfield, first recorded in 1532, worked by Grieve and Nasmyth, the Dundonald Coal Company and from about 1910 the Lochgelly Iron and Coal Company; its Lady Helen pit, begun in 1892, peaked at 455 men in 1957 and closed in 1964. Two men were electrocuted at a cutting machine in 1924.

History

Coal was being wrought at Dundonald, in Auchterderran parish near Cardenden, by 1532, and in 1600 colliers earned 1s 1d a day. By 1842 Messrs Grieve and Nasmyth were the lessees, with Andrew Adamson as manager and 47 males and 12 females employed below ground; he told the Royal Commission that the winding from the workings by incline wheels was generally done by strong females. George Grieve, coalmaster, died in March 1852, and A. Nasmyth appears as manager from 1856, his namesake A. Nasmyth junior in 1873 to 1881. In 1873 the No. 2 or West pit worked the Glass coal and No. 3 or Engine pit the Lochgelly Splint, both with downcast shafts of 360 feet and upcasts of 270.

The Dundonald Coal Company worked the colliery in the 1890s and 1900s, Messrs Fleming, Meikle and Thomson being believed to be its partners; George Blair, Peter Dunsire and John M. Thomson managed it, and its manpower rose from 63 underground in 1896 to 264 in 1908 under Gilbert Andrew. The Lochgelly Iron and Coal Company took the pits over after a few years and held them by 1911; the parish history credits the late manager John Thomson with the first air-pressure engine and with coal-cutting machines, which raised a face's output from 50 tons to as much as 200. By 1928 the Lady Helen pit and the West Mine together employed 324 underground, and in 1938 299 underground and 100 on the surface.

Canmore records the Lady Helen, also called Dundonald Colliery, as begun in 1892, named after Lady Helen, Viscountess Novar of Raith, with a shaft 47 metres deep, a No. 1 (west) mine working from 1897 to 1950 and a No. 2 surface mine, 'Dothan', completed in 1954. The National Coal Board took over in 1947, when 286 men worked underground and 92 on the surface and the annual output was 112,300 tons; in 1948 Canmore gives 400 tons a day and 115,476 tons a year from 369 employees, with a Campbell Binnie feldspar washer, a canteen and an ambulance room. The average workforce was 342 and the peak 455 in 1957, and the colliery closed in 1964. Reported fatal accidents include William Beattie in the West Mine in June 1917, Thomas Davidson in June 1923 and the colliery manager William Gray, struck by a runaway hutch in November 1931.

Geology

Coal of the Lochgelly coalfield. The Glass coal, Lochgelly Splint and Parrot, Fourteen Foot (upper leaf 2 ft 8 in, lower 6 ft), Smithy (3 ft), Duddie Davie (2 ft 9 in), Rough, Five Foot and Blairhall coals were worked at different periods.

Workings

Several pits and mines over its life: Nos. 1 Engine, 2 West, 3 Engine, Dean, Den, Den Burn, Smithy, Muirhead No. 4, No. 5 North, Lady Helen, West Mine and Blairhall Mine, the main later workings being the Lady Helen, the West Mine (No. 1 mine of 1897 to 1950) and the No. 2 surface mine 'Dothan' of 1954.

Closure

The colliery closed in 1964 after a peak workforce of 455 in 1957.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Donibristle Colliery — Both were worked by the Nasmyth partnership, Grieve and Nasmyth at Dundonald and James Nasmyth at Donibristle, as the Scottish Mining Website's parish history names them together.

Recorded claims

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

• The earliest reference to coal being wrought at Dundonald dates from 1532. ¹
• In 1842 Messrs Grieve and Nasmyth were lessees of Dundonald, employing 47 males and 12 females below ground under the manager Andrew Adamson. ^2,1
• The Dundonald collieries were managed under the name of Nasmyth for many years until the senior partner retired to Edinburgh and Messrs Fleming, Meikle and Thomson acquired his lease. ²
• The Lochgelly Iron and Coal Company took over the Dundonald pits from Messrs Fleming, Meikle and Thomson after a few years and was the owner by 1911. ^2,1
• Canmore records Lady Helen (also known as Dundonald) Colliery as begun in 1892 and closed in 1964, with an average workforce of 342 and a peak of 455 in 1957. ³
• The No. 1 (west) mine worked from 1897 to 1950 and the No. 2 surface mine 'Dothan' was completed in 1954, the Lady Helen shaft being 47 metres deep. ³
• In 1947 the colliery employed 286 underground and 92 on the surface with an annual output of 112,300 tons; Canmore gives 115,476 tons a year for 1948. ^1,3
• Two miners, Andrew Greig, 48, and Samuel Marshall, 25, were electrocuted while working a cutting machine at Dundonald Colliery in October 1924. ⁴
• The colliery manager William Gray, aged 55, was killed by a runaway hutch in a haulage road on 11 November 1931. ⁴
• The British Geological Survey catalogues abandonment plans for Dundonald, including one titled Dundonald (Lady Helen). ⁵

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Fife Pits: Dundonald Pits & Mines — Fife Pits
2. (secondary) "A Parish History" (Scottish Mining Website) — Scottish Mining Website
3. (secondary) Lady Helen Colliery (Canmore) — Canmore (Historic Environment Scotland)
4. (secondary) Accidents post 1914 (Scottish Mining Website) — Scottish Mining Website
5. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority abandonment plans: DUNDONALD (LADY HELEN) — British Geological Survey

Record created: 30 September 2026 · Last researched: 30 September 2026