Killochan Colliery

Overview

A steam-coal colliery at Dailly in the Girvan valley, also known as Bargany Colliery, sunk by 1905 with two 205-metre shafts and worked by South Ayrshire Collieries and then the National Coal Board until 1967; it was the southernmost of the valley's pits and washed the coal of Maxwell and Dalquharran.

History

Killochan Colliery, at Dailly in the Girvan valley, is recorded by Canmore as sunk and in production from 1905, with two shafts both 205 metres deep. It is also known as Bargany Colliery, and a map of 1908 shows the Bargany Colliery, near which a brickworks is believed to have stood. Canmore names the owners as the Killochan Coal Company, South Ayrshire Collieries and South Ayrshire Collieries (1928) Limited. The Scotsman of 23 March 1920 reported South Ayrshire Collieries Limited of Glasgow building a fireclay brickworks on the Bargany estate, and on 12 December 1927, with the company in liquidation, it advertised 'the collieries known as Killochan, Bargany and Maxwell together with brickwork adjoining near Dailly' for sale as a going concern, with large reserves of coal still to work.

Scotsman reports give fatal accidents at the pit under both names. David Park was killed working the main coal seam at Bargany Pit on 21 August 1919 when a roof stone of a ton and a half fell on him; it took eight men to move it. John Tait was struck by a hutch while repairing at Bargany Pit and died in hospital in March 1926, and in June 1927 a brusher, Thomas Garrett, aged 23, was killed at Killochan Pit when a wall of coal fell on him.

After nationalisation the pit raised steam coal under the National Coal Board. The furthest south of the Girvan valley pits, it took coal from Maxwell and Dalquharran to be washed. In 1948 it produced 265 tons a day, 66,250 tons a year, by stoop and room and longwall working, with 199 employees, two screens for dry coal and a Luhrig-type washer by Dickson and Mann; it had no baths, canteen or medical facilities, and pithead baths followed in 1955. The workforce averaged 247 and peaked at 289 in 1952. The colliery closed in 1967.

Geology

Steam coal of the Ayrshire coalfield in the Girvan valley, worked by stoop and room and by longwall in 1948.

Workings

Two shafts, both 205 metres deep; stoop and room and longwall working in 1948, with two dry-coal screens and a Luhrig-type washer by Dickson and Mann that also washed the coal of Maxwell and Dalquharran.

Closure

Closed and abandoned in 1967.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Dalquharran Colliery — Killochan washed Dalquharran's coal as well as Maxwell's.
• Maxwell Colliery, Dailly — Killochan took Maxwell's coal to be screened and washed, and South Ayrshire Collieries owned both pits.

Recorded claims

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

• Killochan Colliery is recorded as sunk and producing from 1905 and as closed and abandoned in 1967. ¹
• The colliery had two shafts, both 205 metres deep. ¹
• Killochan Colliery was also known as Bargany Colliery, and the two names appear together in the 1927 sale of the company's pits. ^1,2
• Canmore names the owners as the Killochan Coal Company, South Ayrshire Collieries and South Ayrshire Collieries (1928) Limited. ¹
• In 1948 the colliery produced 265 tons a day, 66,250 tons a year, with 199 employees, by stoop and room and longwall working. ¹
• The colliery washed coal from Maxwell and Dalquharran; it had two dry-coal screens and a Luhrig-type washer by Dickson and Mann, and pithead baths were built in 1955. ¹
• The workforce averaged 247 and peaked at 289 in 1952. ¹
• South Ayrshire Collieries Ltd was building a fireclay brickworks on the Bargany estate in 1920. ²
• In December 1927, with South Ayrshire Collieries in liquidation, the collieries known as Killochan, Bargany and Maxwell were advertised for sale with a brickworks adjoining. ²
• Scotsman reports record fatal accidents at Bargany Pit in August 1919 and March 1926 and at Killochan Pit in June 1927. ³

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Killochan Colliery (Canmore) — Canmore (Historic Environment Scotland)
2. (secondary) Bargany Brickworks, Killochan Pit, Bargany Estate, Dailly (Scotland's Brick and Tile Manufacturing Industry) — Scottish Brick History
3. (secondary) Dailly Mines - Ayrshire Pit Accident (Healey Hero) — Healey Hero

Record created: 30 September 2026 · Last researched: 30 September 2026