Hayside Colliery

Overview

James Oastler and Co.'s colliery and fireclay works at Hayside, Kilmarnock, working the Main and Splint coals and fireclay from the 1870s; its plant was sold in 1892, the Busbie Coal Company held it in 1893, and by 1950 it was only a pumping station for Southhook Potteries.

History

Hayside Colliery, at Kilmarnock, appears in the 1873 list of mines, and that year it was worked by James Oastler and Co.; James Oastler was listed as a Kilmarnock coal master in 1872. It worked two seams, the Main and, ten fathoms below it, the Splint. In February 1873 a drawer in the upper seam, William Tympany, pushed his loaded hutch towards the shaft when the cage was not there and fell with it from the mid-working.

The Oastlers made firebricks as well as raising coal: in 1886 James Oastler and Co. were coal masters and fire-brick manufacturers at the Hayside Colliery and Fire-clay Works, and Parliamentary Papers of 1888 record coal and fireclay both being worked at the Hayside Mine. In 1891 a fall of stone from the working face killed a miner, John Cummings, 39, in Hayside No. 1 pit. Shirlaw, Allan and Co. sold colliery plant at Hayside in 1892, and the 1893 list of mines gives Hayside to the Busbie Coal Company of Glasgow, for coal and fireclay; working went on into the early years of the 20th century.

By 1950 Southhook Potteries Ltd occupied Hayside Colliery and used it only as the main pumping station for their works.

Geology

Ayrshire Coal Measures: the Main and Splint coals, ten fathoms apart, with fireclay worked for firebricks.

Workings

Shafts with a mid-working between the Main and Splint seams; a No. 1 pit by 1891; a fireclay works at the colliery.

Closure

Plant sold in 1892; coal and fireclay working continued into the early 20th century; by 1950 the colliery served only as a pumping station for Southhook Potteries.

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 February 1873 William Tympany, a drawer at Hayside, Kilmarnock, fell down the shaft from the mid-working; the mine worked the Main and Splint seams, ten fathoms apart, for James Oastler and Co. ^1,2
• Parliamentary Papers of 1888 record coal and fire-clay being worked at the Hayside Mine, Kilmarnock, where James Oastler and Co. were coal masters and fire-brick manufacturers. ³
• In 1891 John Cummings, a miner aged 39, was killed by a fall of midstone from the working face in Hayside No. 1 pit. ⁴
• In 1893 Hayside was held by the Busbie Coal Company, of 11 Regent Street, Glasgow, for coal and fireclay. ⁵
• By 1950 Hayside Colliery was occupied by Southhook Potteries Ltd and used only as their main pumping station. ⁶
• Colliery plant at Hayside Colliery was sold by Shirlaw, Allan and Co. in 1892. ⁷

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Ayrshire accidents 1871-1900 — Scottish Mining Website — Scottish Mining Website
2. (secondary) Fatal accidents in mines in Scotland, 1873 — Scottish Mining Website
3. (secondary) Hayside Colliery and Fire Clay Works, Kilmarnock, Ayrshire — Scotland's Brick and Tile Manufacturing Industry (scottishbrickhistory.co.uk)
4. (primary) Scottish Mining Website: 1891 Deaths — Scottish Mining Website
5. (primary) List of Mines in Scotland, 1893 — Scottish Mining Website
6. (secondary) Southhook Fireclay Works, Dreghorn, Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire — Scotland's Brick and Tile Manufacturing Industry (scottishbrickhistory.co.uk)
7. (primary) University of Glasgow Archives: DC102 Records of Shirlaw Allan, industrial auctioneers, Hamilton (item list) — University of Glasgow Archives
8. (primary) Scottish Mining Website: List of Mines in Scotland 1873, Part 1 — Scottish Mining Website

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