Espieside Colliery

Overview

A Coatbridge colliery in the Gartsherrie district, worked from the 1850s by William Baird and Company and later by smaller firms, until its No. 2 pit was abandoned in January 1920.

History

Espieside Colliery lay at Coatbridge, in the Gartsherrie district. Coal under Espieside had been worked early: a plan of abandoned Splint workings at Gartsherrie, Espieside and Gartgill is dated 1833. The colliery itself was being sunk by 1856, when George McMillan was killed by a pick that came loose as it was lowered down the sinking shaft, and is usually said to have opened in 1869. William Baird and Company were its first recorded owners; it later belonged to Peter Cairns and then the Leaend Coal Company, and in 1901 it was listed under James Wood, Ltd.

Firedamp killed Andrew Sinclair in 1858 and Joseph Eaglesham in 1865, and William Aitken, a pony driver of 15, was run over by a train of loaded hutches in 1866. In May 1901 William Stewart, a roadsman of 33, was killed by a fall of roof while repairing a drawing road. Plans of No. 3 pit's Virgin, Kiltongue and Virtuewell workings are dated 1895. The Main and Pyotshaw were abandoned in 1910, when 78 men were employed, but the colliery kept going in the Virtuewell, with 58 men in 1915, until No. 2 pit was abandoned in January 1920.

Geology

The colliery worked the Main, Pyotshaw, Splint, Virgin, Kiltongue and Virtuewell seams.

Workings

Several pits, including Nos. 2 and 3; 68 of the 78 men employed in 1910 worked underground.

Closure

The Main and Pyotshaw were abandoned in 1910; No. 2 pit was abandoned in January 1920 and its plan sent to the Home Office in April.

What remains

Unknown.

Recorded claims

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

• A plan of abandoned Splint workings at Gartsherrie, Espieside and Gartgill is dated 1833. ¹
• Espieside Colliery was owned by William Baird and Company, Peter Cairns and the Leaend Coal Company in turn. ²
• William Stewart, a roadsman of 33, was killed by a fall of roof at Espieside in May 1901, when the colliery was listed under James Wood, Ltd. ^3,2
• Espieside No. 2 pit was abandoned in January 1920; a plan of its Main and Pyotshaw workings is dated 1920. ^2,4
• Plans of Espieside No. 3's Virgin, Kiltongue and Virtuewell workings are dated 1895. ⁵

Sources

1. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan 21857995: Gartsherrie / Espieside / Gartgill, Splint, abandoned 1833 — British Geological Survey
2. (primary) Espieside Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
3. (secondary) Fatal accidents in Scottish mines, 1901 — Scottish Mining Website
4. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan 21917228: Espieside, Main & Pyotshaw, abandoned 1920 — British Geological Survey
5. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan 21853776: Espieside No 3, Virgin, Kiltongue and Virtuewell, abandoned 1895 — British Geological Survey

Record created: 20 October 2026 · Last researched: 20 October 2026