Knowton Colliery

Overview

Barr and Thornton's colliery at Knowton, near East Benhar in Shotts parish, which employed 454 in 1924 and worked the Mill, Main, Ball, Colinburn and Drumgray seams until about 1933. An earlier Knowton Colliery's plant had been sold in 1895.

History

A Knowton Colliery at Shotts existed before 1895, when its plant was sold at auction. The coalmasters Barr and Thornton, a partnership formed in 1900 by George Barr and Thomas Thornton, later opened up and developed Knowton, working Nos. 1 and 2 from before 1910; some of its men lived at East Benhar and Fauldhouse.

It was a machine-mined colliery. In 1911 a coal cutter, wedging the skids of his machine level, was caught by the rope that hauled it along the face and killed; in 1914 an assistant machineman setting props behind a cutter was struck when the coal broke and swung a crown tree out; and in 1921 a miner boring a shot hole in a stone mine was fatally injured by a fall. In January 1924 Thomas Dearie of Fauldhouse was knocked down and killed by a runaway hutch on an incline in the main haulage road. That year Knowton employed 352 underground and 102 at the surface, under the manager Stewart Chambers.

The Ball workings were abandoned in 1923, the Mill and Colinburn in 1924 and the Main in 1927, and the Lower Drumgray, Mill and Ball in 1933. The colliery's bing still stands above the fields of Knowton Farm.

Geology

Coal Measures of the Benhar field: the Mill, Main, Ball, Colinburn and Lower Drumgray seams.

Workings

Nos. 1 and 2 pits with machine-cut faces (coal cutters hauled along the face by rope) and stone mines; an inclined main haulage road.

Closure

The last workings, in the Lower Drumgray, Mill and Ball seams, were abandoned in 1933.

What remains

The colliery bing survives, grassed over, beside Knowton Farm.

The bing.

Redevelopment

Farmland.

What's uncertain

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

• Knowton Nos. 1 and 2 worked until about 1933. (uncertain) ¹

Recorded claims

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

• Barr and Thornton, formed in 1900 by George Barr and Thomas Thornton, opened up and developed Knowton Colliery. ^1,2
• In 1924 Knowton Colliery employed 352 underground and 102 surface workers; the manager was Stewart Chambers. ¹
• In 1911 a coal cutter at Knowton was killed when his sleeve caught in the rope hauling the cutting machine along the face. ^3,4
• In January 1924 Thomas Dearie was killed by a runaway hutch on an incline in Knowton's main haulage road; the owners were Barr and Thornton Ltd. ^3,5
• The Lower Drumgray, Mill and Ball workings at Knowton were abandoned in 1933. ⁶
• The plant of Knowton Colliery, Shotts, was sold by Shirlaw Allan, auctioneers of Hamilton, in 1895. ⁷
• Knowton Nos. 1 and 2 worked until about 1933. (uncertain) ¹
• The disused bing beside Knowton Farm is on the site of the old Knowton Colliery. ⁸

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Scottish Shale: Barr & Thornton Ltd — Scottish Shale (Museum of the Scottish Shale Oil Industry, Almond Valley Heritage Trust)
2. (secondary) Scottish Shale: Thomas Thornton (1870-1932) — Scottish Shale (Museum of the Scottish Shale Oil Industry, Almond Valley Heritage Trust)
3. (primary) Shotts parish accidents post 1900 — Scottish Mining Website — Scottish Mining Website
4. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Knowton, 1911 — Northern Mine Research Society
5. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Knowton, 1924 — Northern Mine Research Society
6. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: Knowton, Lower Drumgray, abandoned 1933 — British Geological Survey
7. (primary) University of Glasgow Archives: DC102 Records of Shirlaw Allan, industrial auctioneers, Hamilton (item list) — University of Glasgow Archives
8. (observational) Geograph 3124406: Baling silage at Knowton Farm near Shotts — Geograph
9. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: Knowton, Ball, abandoned 1923 — British Geological Survey
10. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Knowton, 1914 — Northern Mine Research Society
11. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Knowton, 1921 — Northern Mine Research Society

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