Forthbank Colliery

Overview

A colliery at Forthbank, Alloa, worked by the Alloa Coal Company from 1892 to 1902 and opened again with two new surface mines from 1947 to replace Craigrie. It employed nearly a thousand at its peak in 1956 but closed in January 1958.

History

The first Forthbank Colliery, at Forthbank, Alloa, was worked by the Alloa Coal Company from 1892 to 1902, from two shafts close together. Before the war the company's directors spoke of reopening the Forthbank pits, and the work was begun at nationalisation: the drivage of two new surface mines, each 311 metres long at 1 in 4, was started in 1947, and production began in 1949. The new colliery was meant to replace Craigrie, with an estimated life of 24 years, and local tradition has it chosen for its nearness to the railway.

In February 1949 it was still being built, with 61 men raising 100 tons a day; its coal went to Devon Colliery for washing, and baths, a canteen and medical services were to come. It raised house coal and blaes for local brickworks, with a gantry and a picking house with screening plant on the surface. The workforce grew to a peak of 992 in 1956, averaging 353 over its life, and plans of its Mosie and Mill workings were closed in April 1954 and of the Alloa Splint in 1955. Forthbank closed in January 1958, well short of its planned life, and was abandoned that year.

Geology

Clackmannan coalfield: the Mosie, Mill, Alloa Splint and Lower Five Feet (Cherry) seams; house coal and blaes.

Workings

Two shafts of the 1890s; two surface mines of 1947, each 311 m at 1 in 4, with a gantry, picking house and screening plant; coal washed at Devon Colliery.

Closure

The first colliery closed in 1902; the National Coal Board's Forthbank, begun in 1947, closed in January 1958, sixteen years short of its estimated life.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Craigrie Colliery — Forthbank was opened in 1947 to replace Craigrie.
• Devon Colliery — Alloa Coal Company collieries; Forthbank's coal was washed at Devon.

Recorded claims

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

• Forthbank 1 and 2 were begun in 1947, produced from 1949 and closed in 1958, with two surface mines 311 m long at 1 in 4. ¹
• The new Forthbank was intended to replace Craigrie Colliery, with an estimated life of 24 years. ^2,1
• An earlier Forthbank Colliery was worked by the Alloa Coal Company from 1892 to 1902. ^2,3
• Its workforce averaged 353 and peaked at 992 in 1956. ¹
• In February 1949 it had 61 employees and produced 100 tons a day, washed at Devon Colliery. ¹
• Forthbank is dated 1947 to January 1958. ^2,4
• Forthbank's Mill workings were abandoned on 17 April 1954 and its Alloa Splint workings in 1955. ^5,6

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Forthbank 1 And 2, Colliery (NRHE 130817) — Historic Environment Scotland (trove.scot, formerly Canmore)
2. (secondary) Clackmannanshire's Mines — Clackmannanshire.scot
3. (secondary) One Hundred Years in Coal: The History of the Alloa Coal Company (John L. Carvel, 1944) — Clackmannanshire.scot
4. (secondary) NCB Collieries - Scotland (Northern Mine Research Society) — Northern Mine Research Society
5. (primary) BGS mine plan: Forthbank, Mill, abandoned 17 April 1954 — BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans
6. (primary) BGS mine plan: Forthbank, Alloa Splint, abandoned 1955 — BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans

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