Gilbertfield Colliery

Overview

The Cambuslang Coal Company's colliery and brickworks at Gilbertfield, by Halfway in Cambuslang, sunk about 1880. Its steep workings made it the 'Brandy' Pit, called 'the slaughter house' locally; it employed over 500 before John Watson Ltd sold it in 1919.

History

The Cambuslang Coal Company was sinking pits north of the Cambuslang to Hamilton road at Gilbertfield, near Halfway, early in 1880; boring had proved six seams, the Ell only a little over 30 fathoms down. To use a fine bed of clay on the property the company started a brickworks, later run as the Cambuslang Brickmaking Company. Gilbertfield was one of a group of Cambuslang pits, with Flemington, Gateside and the Toll, sunk soon after one another, most of which came to raise about 1,000 tons a day.

Its workings were steep, and the pit, known locally as the 'Brandy' Pit, was called 'the slaughter house' by a local doctor for its accidents; more than thirty deaths are recorded there. It worked household, manufacturing and steam coal and fireclay from the Humph, Main, Splint, Pyotshaw, Upper Ell and Virgin seams, employing 334 in 1894 and 556 in 1910. United Collieries Ltd and then John Watson Ltd followed the Cambuslang company, and in 1896 the Gilbertfield tug-of-war team, all of them miners, won a championship in Edinburgh against the Army, the Navy and the police.

In September 1919 John Watson Ltd advertised the colliery and brickworks for sale, and the Ell, Virgin and Upper seams were abandoned that year. By 1943 the Gilbertfield workings were described as wrought out.

Geology

Lanarkshire Coal Measures: the Humph, Main, Splint, Pyotshaw, Upper Ell and Virgin seams, with the Ell a little over 30 fathoms down, and a bed of brick clay.

Workings

Pits north of the Cambuslang to Hamilton road; steep workings; a brickworks on the property from 1880.

Closure

John Watson Ltd put the colliery and brickworks up for sale in September 1919, the year the Ell, Virgin and Upper seams were abandoned.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Recorded claims

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

• In 1880 the Cambuslang Coal Company was sinking pits north of the Cambuslang to Hamilton road and had started a brickworks to use the clay on the property. ¹
• The Gilbertfield workings were steep, and the pit, known locally as the 'Brandy' Pit, was described as 'the slaughter house'. ²
• Gilbertfield employed 334 in 1894 and 556 in 1910. ³
• John Watson Ltd advertised Gilbertfield Colliery and Brickworks for sale in September 1919. ¹
• The Ell, Virgin and Upper seams at Gilbertfield were abandoned in 1919. ⁴

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Gilbertfield Colliery & Brickworks, Halfway, Cambuslang, South Lanarkshire — Scotland's Brick and Tile Manufacturing Industry
2. (secondary) Coal! A history of the coal-mining industry in Scotland with special reference to the Cambuslang district (John Anderson, 1943) — John Anderson / edwardboyle.com
3. (primary) Gilbertfield Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
4. (primary) BGS mine plan: Gilbertfield, Ell, abandoned 1919 — BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans

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