Kennox Colliery

Overview

A Douglasdale colliery worked by the Kennox Colliery Co., Ltd from at least 1910 until nationalisation, remembered chiefly for a catastrophic 1943 flood in its No. 7 mine that trapped and killed three men of one family after a thirteen-day rescue effort watched across the country.

History

Kennox Colliery, also recorded as Glespin Colliery, began sinking or production about 1908, after an earlier mine of the Glespin Coal Company. It was worked from at least 1910 by the Kennox Colliery Co., Ltd, initially alongside the neighbouring Carmacoup mine under manager Alexander McLuckie, employing 52 men underground and 16 at the surface. The company expanded its Douglas workings steadily over the following decade -- Kennox Nos. 3, 5 and 6 by 1915, with No. 3 abandoned by 1920 as Nos. 6, 6a, 7 and 9 came into production -- and by 1923 the company, registered in Glasgow under chairman D. W. T. Cargill, was producing around 50,000 tons of coking, household and manufacturing coal a year. Through the 1930s the colliery worked the Virtuewell, Nine Feet and Kiltongue seams, later adding the Upper and Lower Drumgray and Splint seams, with annual output reaching 70,000 tons by 1940. On 14 January 1934 the Lane Burn, in spate, wore through into the workings near Glespin and a young miner was swept to his death. In 1940 Nos. 6, 7 and 8 mines employed 105 men underground and 57 at the surface. On 30 May 1943 a sudden inrush of water flooded the colliery's No. 7 mine, trapping and eventually killing three men after a thirteen-day rescue effort that drew national press coverage (see Disasters, below). At nationalisation in 1947 Kennox employed 101 men underground and 35 at the surface. It continued under National Coal Board ownership, working until its coal reserves were exhausted and the colliery closed in June 1972; the national record of the site gives the year of closure as 1964. Plans of the Main, Kiltongue, Mid and Jewel seams were deposited as abandoned between 1948 and 1953.

Geology

Coal of the Lanarkshire field: the Virtuewell, Nine Feet and Kiltongue seams through the 1930s, with the Upper and Lower Drumgray and Splint seams added later.

Workings

A group of numbered drift/shaft workings around Douglas (Kennox Nos. 3, 6, 6a, 7, 9, 10 and 12 over the colliery's life), working the Virtuewell, Nine Feet, Kiltongue, Upper and Lower Drumgray and Splint seams by conventional underground methods, powered by 440-volt electricity from the 1930s. The Glespin part of the colliery is thought to have been a shallow shaft, associated with the Carmacoup mine and worked longwall.

Closure

Closed in 1972 once its workable coal reserves were exhausted, having passed to the National Coal Board on nationalisation in 1947. The national record of the site gives 1964 instead. Abandonment plans for the Main, Kiltongue, Mid and Jewel seams are dated between 1948 and 1953.

What remains

Unknown.

Disasters & major incidents

• Kennox Colliery Flood (1943)
  30 May 1943 · Flooding / Inundation · 3 fatalities
  A sudden inrush of water flooded Kennox No. 7 mine, Douglas, trapping three men of one family; a thirteen-day national rescue effort ultimately failed to reach them alive.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• Kennox Colliery closed in 1972, its coal reserves exhausted, having passed to the National Coal Board on nationalisation in 1947. (disputed) ¹
• The national record of the site gives sinking or production from about 1908 and closure in 1964. (disputed) ³
• The colliery opened in 1908 and closed in June 1972, owned by the Kennox Colliery Co. Ltd from 1910 to 1946 and the National Coal Board from 1947 to 1972. (disputed) ⁶

Recorded claims

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

• In 1910 the company employed 52 men underground and 16 at the surface across its Carmacoup and Kennox mines; by 1923 it was registered in Glasgow and producing around 50,000 tons of coal a year, rising to 70,000 tons by 1940. ¹
• Kennox Colliery closed in 1972, its coal reserves exhausted, having passed to the National Coal Board on nationalisation in 1947. (disputed) ¹
• On 30 May 1943 a sudden inrush of water flooded the colliery's No. 7 mine, trapping and eventually killing three men; full detail is covered on the disaster's own record. ²
• The national record of the site gives sinking or production from about 1908 and closure in 1964. (disputed) ³
• The colliery is also recorded as Glespin Colliery, centred at NS 8050 2799 with a shaft at NS 8039 2778, and is associated with the Carmacoup mine. ³
• On 14 January 1934 the Lane Burn broke into the workings of the Kennox mine near Glespin and a young miner was swept to his death. ⁴
• Kennox Nos. 6, 7 and 8 employed 105 underground and 57 above ground in 1940, and the colliery 101 and 35 at nationalisation in 1947. ¹
• Catalogued abandonment plans for Kennox cover the Main, Kiltongue, Mid and Jewel seams, dated between 1948 and 1953. ⁵
• The colliery opened in 1908 and closed in June 1972, owned by the Kennox Colliery Co. Ltd from 1910 to 1946 and the National Coal Board from 1947 to 1972. (disputed) ⁶

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Kennox Colliery Co., Ltd. — Durham Mining Museum (drawing on Colliery Year Books and government List of Mines returns)
2. (primary) Kennox Colliery, 30 May 1943 — Scottish Mining Website (reproducing contemporary newspaper reports)
3. (secondary) Glespin Colliery (also known as Kennox Colliery; 'Carmacoupe Mine'), NRHE 132093 — Historic Environment Scotland (trove.scot)
4. (secondary) Accidents post-1926 (newspaper reports) — Scottish Mining Website
5. (primary) BGS mine plans catalogue: Kennox, Jewel seam, abandoned 1953 — Mining Remediation Authority / BGS mine plans catalogue
6. (secondary) Kennox Colliery, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, UK — Mindat

Record created: 30 August 2026 · Last researched: 5 October 2026