Garrallan Colliery

Overview

A colliery on the lands of Garrallan by the Skares road just outside Cumnock, sunk about 1907 and worked by a succession of companies until 1960; its 1924 compensation case went to the House of Lords, and from 1936 it was run by the Garrallan Brick and Tile Company.

History

Garrallan Colliery worked the coal under the lands of Garrallan in Old Cumnock parish, near Garallan Row on the Skares road just outside Cumnock. By one account it was first sunk in 1907 by the Carriden Coal Company, and Claude seam workings were abandoned as early as 1909. The Carriden company owned it in 1916 and 1918, when a man was crushed between the buffers of coal waggons.

It became the Garrallan Coal Company's. In November 1924 the House of Lords unanimously allowed that company's appeal in the case of Peter Devlin, a pit bottomer crushed by a descending cage in the uncovered space at the shaft bottom: the arbitrator had found no proof that he was there for his employers' business, the Court of Session had reversed that by a majority, and the Lords restored the arbitrator's finding against the widow's claim. The Banknock Coal Company owned the pit in 1925, and the Mount Vernon company by 1927, when the Main, Ell and Maid Splint workings were abandoned and the pit closed.

It reopened. In 1936 the Garrallan Brick and Tile Company was formed in Glasgow to take over John McCracken's lease of the coal under Garrallan from John Douglas Boswell, and to make bricks as well as raise coal. In 1938 it employed 59 below ground and 33 above, under the manager George Johnstone, and in 1939 it asked household consumers to register with it for coal deliveries. A miner was killed by a fall of stone in 1953. The Thirty Inch workings were abandoned in 1956 and the Maid and Low Maid of Garrallan 'A' in 1960, when the colliery closed and its plant was sold at auction.

Geology

Ayrshire Coal Measures: the Claude, Major, Main, Ell, Thirty Inch, Upper and Lower Maid Splint and Maid and Low Maid seams; fireclay was worked for bricks from 1936.

Workings

A shaft with cage winding and an uncovered space at the shaft bottom (1924); a later Garrallan 'A' working in the Maid seams.

Closure

Closed in 1927 and reopened; closed for good in 1960, when the Maid and Low Maid workings were abandoned and the plant was sold.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• Garrallan Colliery was first sunk in 1907 by the Carriden Coal Company. (uncertain) ³
• Garrallan closed in 1927, reopened, and closed for good in 1960. (uncertain) ³

Recorded claims

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

• In November 1924 the House of Lords unanimously allowed the Garrallan Coal Co. Ltd's appeal in the compensation case of Peter Devlin, a pit bottomer crushed by a descending cage at the shaft bottom. ^1,2
• In 1938 Garrallan was owned by the Garrallan Brick and Tile Co. Ltd, with 59 employees below ground and 33 above, under the manager George Johnstone. ³
• The Garrallan Brick and Tile Company was formed in 1936 to acquire John McCracken's lease, from John Douglas Boswell, of coal under the lands of Garrallan. ³
• Garrallan Colliery was first sunk in 1907 by the Carriden Coal Company. (uncertain) ³
• The Carriden Coal Co. owned Garrallan Pit in 1916 and 1918, and the Banknock Coal Co. Ltd in 1925. ^4,5,6
• Garrallan closed in 1927, reopened, and closed for good in 1960. (uncertain) ³
• The Maid and Low Maid workings of Garrallan 'A' were abandoned in 1960. ⁷
• The plant of Garrallan Colliery, near Cumnock, was sold by Shirlaw Allan, auctioneers of Hamilton, in 1960. ⁸

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Ayrshire Accidents 1915 onwards (newspaper reports) — Scottish Mining Website
2. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Garrallan Pit, 1924 — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (secondary) Garrallan Brick and Tile Company Limited, Cumnock, East Ayrshire — Scotland's Brick and Tile Manufacturing Industry (scottishbrickhistory.co.uk)
4. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Garrallan Pit, 1916 — Northern Mine Research Society
5. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Garrallan Pit, 1918 — Northern Mine Research Society
6. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Garrallan Pit, 1925 — Northern Mine Research Society
7. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: Garrallan 'A', Maid & Low Maid, abandoned 1960 — British Geological Survey
8. (primary) University of Glasgow Archives: DC102 Records of Shirlaw Allan, industrial auctioneers, Hamilton (item list) — University of Glasgow Archives
9. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: Garrallan, Claude, abandoned 1909 — British Geological Survey
10. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: Garrallan, Main, abandoned 1927 — British Geological Survey
11. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Garrallan Pit, 1953 — Northern Mine Research Society

Record created: 16 October 2026 · Last researched: 16 October 2026