Glenclelland Colliery

Overview

A colliery east of Wishaw worked from about 1850 to the early 1930s, raising coal, ironstone and oil shale for Kerr and Mitchell and later coal and fireclay for Horn (Glasgow) Ltd, with nearly 300 men at its last peak in 1923.

History

Glenclelland Colliery lay east of Wishaw, near Newmains. Coal had been worked there by 1850, the date of plans of abandoned Ell and Main workings, and the colliery is usually said to have opened in 1854. In 1860 it was listed, as Glencleland, under Kerr and Pender. By 1893 it belonged to Kerr and Mitchell of West Nile Street, Glasgow, with George A. Mitchell as agent and Thomas Dewar as manager, and raised coal, ironstone and oil shale; 140 men worked there in 1894 and 317 in 1900, from the Kiltongue and Virtuewell seams by 1905, with fireclay too.

Employment then fell away, to 42 in 1910, before the colliery passed to Horn (Glasgow) Ltd and revived: 143 men in 1920 and 299 in 1923, working the Humph, Main and Splint. Its recorded deaths run from Hugh Macfarlane, killed when a scaffold fell at the pithead in 1855, to William Schneider, who on his first day in 1899 put his head out of the cage's lower deck to listen to a companion and was caught between the cage and the pit mouth; Richard Sharp, an office boy of 13, was run over after riding a waggon for amusement in 1883.

The Ell was abandoned in July 1915 and the colliery is recorded as closing in 1930, with the last plans, of the Kiltongue and Lower Drumgray, dated 1932. Opencast working later returned to the Ell at Glenclelland.

Geology

The colliery worked the Ell, Main, Kiltongue, Virtuewell, Humph, Splint, Drumgray and Blackband (Virgin) seams, with ironstone, oil shale and fireclay.

Workings

Shaft workings with a two-deck cage; 263 of the 299 men employed in 1923 worked underground.

Closure

The Ell was abandoned in July 1915; the colliery is recorded as closing in 1930, with final abandonment plans dated 1932.

What remains

Part of the ground was later worked by opencast.

Recorded claims

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

• Plans of abandoned Ell and Main workings at Glenclelland are dated 1850. ¹
• In 1860 Glencleland, Wishaw, was listed under Kerr and Pender. ²
• In 1893 Glenclelland was owned by Kerr and Mitchell of 67 West Nile Street, Glasgow, and raised coal, ironstone and oil shale. ^3,4
• Glenclelland employed 317 men in 1900 and 299 in 1923. ⁴
• William Schneider, a miner of 36, was killed at Glenclelland No. 1 Pit in August 1899 when caught between the cage and the pit mouth. ^5,4
• Glenclelland Colliery closed in 1930. ⁴
• The last Glenclelland abandonment plans, of the Kiltongue and Lower Drumgray, are dated 1932. ⁶

Sources

1. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan 21852941: Glenclelland, Ell, abandoned 1850 — British Geological Survey
2. (secondary) List of Collieries In Scotland 1860 — Scottish Mining Website
3. (primary) List of Mines in Scotland, 1893 — Scottish Mining Website
4. (primary) Glenclelland Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
5. (secondary) Scottish Mining Website - 1899 Deaths — Scottish Mining Website
6. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan 21944048: Glenclelland, Lower Drumgray, abandoned 1932 — British Geological Survey

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