Highhouse Colliery

Overview

An Auchinleck colliery developed by William Baird & Co. that worked for nearly ninety years, its 1790-built haulage engine still in service until 1956, and whose workforce struck in 1972 and 1974 specifically to save the pit from closure.

History

Highhouse Colliery was developed by William Baird & Co. at Merlinhill Farm, just south of Auchinleck station, opening in 1894 as a two-shaft pit with steel-framed, corrugated-iron-clad surface buildings. Its steam winding engine, built around 1896 by Grant, Ritchie and Co Ltd of Kilmarnock, had two horizontal cylinders 20 inches in diameter with a four-foot stroke and a ten-foot drum. A second-hand beam engine used for haulage had an even longer history: built in Bridgeton in 1790 by Walkinshaw and originally used in the Blair collieries, it was relocated to Craigston Pit in 1875 before coming to Highhouse around 1894, and remained in service there until its removal in 1956, when it went to Heriot-Watt College. The colliery's workforce, alongside that of the neighbouring Barony Colliery, struck in both 1972 and 1974 specifically to save the pits from closure, a fight the local community actively supported. Highhouse closed for the final time in 1983, ten years before Barony followed it in 1989. The demolished site is now home to the Highhouse Industrial Estate.

Workings

Two shafts sunk from 1894, with a steam winding engine installed around 1896.

Closure

Closed for the final time in 1983.

What remains

The demolished colliery site is now home to the Highhouse Industrial Estate.

No specific surviving colliery structures were established from the sources checked for this pass.

Abandoned workings can be dangerous — unstable ground, uncapped shafts, flooding and bad air are common even where a site looks safe from the surface. This entry describes history and general location only; it is not an access guide.

Recorded claims

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

• Highhouse Colliery was developed by William Baird & Co. at Merlinhill Farm, just south of Auchinleck station, opening in 1894 as a two-shaft pit. ¹
• A second-hand beam haulage engine, built in Bridgeton in 1790 and previously used at the Blair collieries and Craigston Pit, was relocated to Highhouse around 1894 and remained in service until its removal in 1956. ^1,2
• Highhouse's workforce, alongside that of the neighbouring Barony Colliery, struck in both 1972 and 1974 specifically to save the pits from closure. ²
• Highhouse closed for the final time in 1983; the demolished site is now the Highhouse Industrial Estate. ¹

Sources

1. (secondary) Highhouse Colliery — Canmore (Historic Environment Scotland)
2. (secondary) Highhouse Colliery, Auchinleck — British Listed Buildings

Record created: 27 August 2026 · Last researched: 27 August 2026