Haughhead Colliery

Overview

A colliery in Hamilton parish sunk in the 1860s by the coal and ironmasters Merry and Cunninghame and served by a short mineral line from Ross Junction. Firedamp killed men in 1863, 1866 and, three at once, in April 1867. Bought in 1886 by Colonel Robertson Aikman of Ross Colliery, it was then closed and its coal worked from Ross.

History

Haughhead Colliery, in the parish of Hamilton, was sunk by Merry and Cunninghame, coal and ironmasters, in the 1860s, and was served by a short mineral line from Ross Junction. It had two shafts, Nos. 1 and 2, and was a fiery pit. In November 1863 a collier breaking into a new seam from a scaffold 18 fathoms above the pit bottom lowered his lamp into gas and was killed. In May 1866, with the usual shaft under repair, a drawer going down the second shaft was killed by an explosion.

On 13 April 1867 gas let out from behind a stopping exploded and killed three men, the underground manager among them (see Disasters, below).

The Ell workings of Nos. 1 and 2 were abandoned in 1877 and the Main in 1885. In 1886 Colonel Robertson Aikman, owner of the nearby Ross Colliery, bought Haughhead and worked its coal from Ross, so that Haughhead and its line could close.

Geology

The soft coal, Ell, Main, Splint and Virgin coals of the Hamilton district; a fiery pit, with firedamp met in the shaft and the workings.

Workings

Nos. 1 and 2 pits (two shafts), with a scaffold in the shaft for breaking into a new seam in 1863; served by a mineral line from Ross Junction.

Closure

Bought in 1886 by Colonel Robertson Aikman of Ross Colliery, who worked its coal from Ross and closed Haughhead and its line. The No. 1 Splint and Virgin plans are dated 1889.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Ferniegair Colliery — RailScot lists 'Ferniegair Colliery' as another name for Haughhead; the archive's Ferniegair Colliery (Russell's) is kept separate, the identity not being established.

Disasters & major incidents

• Haughhead Colliery explosion, 1867
  13 April 1867 · Explosion · 3 fatalities
  On the afternoon of Saturday 13 April 1867, after work had stopped at Merry and Cunninghame's Haughhead Colliery, Hamilton, the underground manager James Bryce and a drawer began to remove a stopping built to confine gas from an earlier fire in the soft coal. The pent-up gas reached a miner's lamp nearly thirty fathoms off and exploded, killing all three men.

Recorded claims

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

• Haughhead Colliery was sunk by Merry and Cunninghame in the 1860s. ^1,2
• In November 1863 a collier was killed by firedamp on a scaffold 18 fathoms above the pit bottom. ¹
• In 1886 Colonel Robertson Aikman of Ross Colliery bought Haughhead and worked its coal from Ross, allowing Haughhead to close. ²
• The Main workings of Haughhead Nos. 1 and 2 were abandoned in 1885. ³

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Hamilton Accidents to 1875 (newspaper reports) — Scottish Mining Website
2. (secondary) RailScot: Haughhead Colliery — RailScot
3. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: Haughhead Nos. 1 and 2, Main, abandoned 1885 — British Geological Survey
4. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: Haughhead No. 1, Splint and Virgin, abandoned 1889 — British Geological Survey
5. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: Haughhead Nos. 1 and 2, Ell, abandoned 1877 — British Geological Survey

Record created: 13 October 2026 · Last researched: 13 October 2026