Kippsbyre Colliery

Overview

A colliery at Kipps, between Coatbridge and Airdrie, worked from before 1836 to 1955 on the Monkland and Kirkintilloch and Ballochney railways. Strain Brothers, John Watson Ltd and Francis McLean worked it in turn. In September 1939 a sudden flood trapped three men whose bodies were never recovered (see Disasters, below).

History

Kippsbyre Colliery lay at Kipps, between Coatbridge and Airdrie, near Glenmavis, and was served by the Monkland and Kirkintilloch and Ballochney railways. Coal was worked there early: its Kiltongue workings were abandoned as early as 1836, its Ell in 1854 and its Pyotshaw in 1855, and the Blackband ironstone was worked with the Splint coal until 1883.

In the 1900s Strain Brothers owned it. In 1904 a fifteen-year-old was buried when the road he was working at fell in near the crop, the fall running right up to the surface; in 1907 a pitheadman freeing a tub at the shaft top was carried down when the engineman lowered the cage instead of raising it, and died eight months later. By 1919 John Watson Ltd was working Strain Brothers' No. 8 pit, where a fireman was killed by hutches that jumped the rails at a junction; roof falls killed men in 1925, 1926, 1927 and 1928.

On 22 September 1939 the pit suddenly flooded, and three men were lost (see Disasters, below). Francis McLean was working Kippsbyre (Kiltongue) Mine at Glenmavis in the 1940s, where a miner was caught by the revolving cutting bar of a coal-cutting machine in 1945. The Upper Drumgray and Virtuewell workings were abandoned in 1955.

Geology

The Kiltongue, Virtuewell, Ell, Pyotshaw, Splint, Virgin and Upper Drumgray coals and the Blackband ironstone; shallow workings near the crop.

Workings

Numbered pits up to No. 8, longwall working with brushing and packing, and coal-cutting machines by 1945; latterly the Kippsbyre (Kiltongue) Mine.

Closure

Its Upper Drumgray and Virtuewell workings were abandoned in 1955.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Disasters & major incidents

• Kippsbyre Colliery inundation, 1939
  22 September 1939 · Flooding / Inundation · 3 fatalities
  On 22 September 1939 Francis McLean's pit at Kippsbyre, between Coatbridge and Airdrie, suddenly flooded. Five men escaped; Alexander Kinnaird, Thomas Lang and James Walker were trapped underground, and their bodies were never recovered. The NMRS records the deaths under the name Mosside.

Recorded claims

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

• Kippsbyre's Kiltongue workings were abandoned in 1836. ¹
• Kippsbyre Colliery was served by the Monkland and Kirkintilloch and Ballochney railways. ²
• Strain Brothers owned Kippsbyre in 1904-1907, and John Watson Ltd worked its No. 8 pit in 1919. ^3,4,5,6
• In 1945 a miner was caught by the revolving cutting bar of a coal cutter in Kippsbyre (Kiltongue) Mine, Glenmavis. ⁷
• Its Upper Drumgray and Virtuewell workings were abandoned in 1955. ⁸

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: Kippsbyre, Kiltongue, abandoned 1836 — British Geological Survey
2. (secondary) RailScot: Kippsbyre Colliery — RailScot
3. (secondary) Scottish Mining Website: Lanarkshire accidents 1901-1914 (Airdrie, Calderbank) — Scottish Mining Website
4. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Kippsbyre, 1904 — Northern Mine Research Society
5. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Kippsbyre, 1907 — Northern Mine Research Society
6. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Kippsbyre, No.8 Pit, 1919 — Northern Mine Research Society
7. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Kippsbyre Mine, 1945 — Northern Mine Research Society
8. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: Kippsbyre, Upper Drumgray, abandoned 1955 — British Geological Survey
9. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: Kippsbyre, Blackband ironstone and Splint, abandoned 1883 — British Geological Survey
10. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: Kippsbyre, Kiltongue, Upper Drumgray and Virgin, abandoned 1918 — British Geological Survey
11. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Kippsbyre, 1926 — Northern Mine Research Society
12. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Mosside, Airdrie, 1939 — Northern Mine Research Society
13. (secondary) Scottish Parliament motion S5M-22830: 81st Anniversary of the Disaster at Kippsbyre Colliery — Scottish Parliament

Record created: 15 October 2026 · Last researched: 15 October 2026