Fairholm Colliery

Overview

A Larkhall colliery on the lands of Fairholm, opened in 1873 and passed through five owners before it was discontinued in February 1908.

History

Fairholm Colliery lay at Larkhall, on the lands of Fairholm, where ironstone and coal had been worked before; an abandonment plan of Fairholm workings is dated 1869. The colliery itself was opened in 1873 and passed through a succession of owners: the Wishaw Iron Company, the Glasgow Iron Company, the Hamilton Colliery Company, the Larkhall and Fairholm Collieries Company and finally United Collieries, Limited. In 1893 it was listed under the Glasgow Iron and Steel Company, whose agent was Gavin C. Gordon of Wishaw, with Robert Wilson as manager.

Fairholm raised household, manufacturing and steam coal from the Main seam. It employed 163 men in 1900, 144 of them underground, but only 85 in 1905. In April 1896 a waggon shifter of 20, Gavin Winning, was killed running two loaded trucks from the screen to the siding when his foot caught under the buffers and the wheels passed over him, and in September 1897 a brusher, John Hodge, died after a large stone fell on him as he set brushing trees in a slope road. Abandonment plans followed in 1901, 1903, 1905 and 1906, and the colliery was discontinued in February 1908.

Geology

The Main coal of the Lanarkshire coalfield; ironstone had earlier been worked in the lands of Fairholm.

Workings

Slope roads underground; screens with a siding served by trucks on the surface.

Closure

Discontinued in February 1908.

What remains

Unknown.

Related mines

• Quarter Colliery — BGS files joint Quarter and Fairholm plans (1900).
• Skellyton Colliery — Neighbouring Larkhall collieries.

Recorded claims

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

• Fairholm Colliery, Larkhall, opened in 1873 and was discontinued in February 1908. ¹
• Fairholm's owners were the Wishaw Iron Co., Glasgow Iron Co., Hamilton Colliery Co., Larkhall and Fairholm Collieries Co. and United Collieries Ltd. ¹
• In 1893 Fairholm was listed under the Glasgow Iron and Steel Co., with Robert Wilson as manager. ²
• Fairholm employed 163 men in 1900 and 85 in 1905. ¹
• Abandonment plans of Fairholm workings are dated from 1869 to 1906. ^3,4

Sources

1. (primary) Fairholm Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (primary) List of Mines in Scotland, 1893 — Scottish Mining Website
3. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan 21853756: Fairholm, abandoned 1869 — British Geological Survey
4. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan 21853766: Fairholm, abandoned 1906 — British Geological Survey

Record created: 20 October 2026 · Last researched: 21 October 2026