Lochwood Colliery

Overview

A colliery at Lochwood, Easterhouse, on the Baird family's estate east of Glasgow, reached by a mineral branch from Heatheryknowe opened in 1875. New Nos. 1 and 2 pits were opened for the Bairds in 1898, and the Lochwood Coal Company worked three pits in the 1900s. Sources place its closure in 1914 or in the 1920s.

History

Lochwood Colliery lay north of the Monkland Canal at Lochwood, Easterhouse, on land owned by the Bairds of Gartsherrie, the Coatbridge ironmasters. A mineral branch from the Monkland Canal, and later from the North British Railway's Glasgow and Coatbridge line, ran north to it: the Lochwood Colliery branch opened in 1875 from a new junction at Heatheryknowe. A Lochwood No. 1 pit's Kiltongue workings were abandoned as early as 1880.

New pits, Nos. 1 and 2, were opened north-west of the junction for the Bairds in 1898. In the 1900s the colliery was worked by the Lochwood Coal Co. Ltd with three pits, and its accidents were typical of the time: an assistant bottomer crushed when a cage was lowered on him in 1902, a miner killed by a shot of compressed gunpowder he thought had failed to light in 1903, and an engineer struck in 1910 by a stone falling from the unlined side of the shaft while he repaired pump rods. In December 1910 a brusher's naked light fired gas given off at a fault in No. 1 pit, severely burning two brushers; one, aged 49, died.

Its Virgin coal was abandoned in 1907 and its Kiltongue and Splint workings in 1914, the year one account gives for the closure of both pit and branch; another has Pits Nos. 1 and 2 closing in the 1920s, and a Kiltongue plan is dated 1924. The branch closed in 1939. A fossil Sigillaria, a giant clubmoss of the Carboniferous, found at the colliery is held by Glasgow Museums.

Geology

The Kiltongue, Splint, Virgin and Balmoral coals; a fault in No. 1 pit gave off gas.

Workings

Pits Nos. 1, 2 and 3, the shafts unlined in part, with a mineral branch to Heatheryknowe Junction.

Closure

Its Kiltongue and Splint workings were abandoned in 1914 and a Kiltongue plan in 1924; one account closes the pit and branch in 1914, another the pits in the 1920s. The branch closed in 1939.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

What's uncertain

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

• Lochwood Colliery and its branch closed in 1914. (disputed) ⁶
• Lochwood Colliery Pits Nos. 1 and 2 closed in the 1920s, and the branch in 1939. (disputed) ¹

Recorded claims

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

• The Lochwood Colliery branch opened in 1875 from a new junction at Heatheryknowe. ¹
• Lochwood Colliery Pits Nos. 1 and 2 were opened for the Bairds in 1898. ¹
• The Lochwood Coal Co. Ltd worked Nos. 1, 2 and 3 pits in 1902-1911. ^2,3,4,5
• In December 1910 a naked light fired gas at a fault in No. 1 pit, burning two brushers, one of whom died. ⁴
• Lochwood Colliery and its branch closed in 1914. (disputed) ⁶
• Lochwood Colliery Pits Nos. 1 and 2 closed in the 1920s, and the branch in 1939. (disputed) ¹
• A fossil Sigillaria was found at Lochwood Colliery, Easterhouse. ⁷
• Runaway hutches injured a miner in Lochwood Colliery, near Baillieston, in February 1901. ⁸

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) RailScot: Heatheryknowe Junction — RailScot
2. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Lochwood, No.3 Pit, 1903 — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Lochwood, No.2 Pit, 1910 — Northern Mine Research Society
4. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Lochwood, No.1 Pit, 1910 — Northern Mine Research Society
5. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Lochwood, No.1 Pit, 1902 — Northern Mine Research Society
6. (observational) Geograph 1856439: Bridge over Heatheryknowe Railway (Robert Murray) — Geograph
7. (secondary) TheGlasgowStory: Sigillaria — TheGlasgowStory
8. (secondary) Accidents 1901-1914 (newspaper reports) — Scottish Mining Website
9. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: Lochwood No 1, Kiltongue, abandoned 1880 — British Geological Survey
10. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: Lochwood, Kiltongue and Splint, abandoned 1914 — British Geological Survey
11. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: Lochwood, Kiltongue, abandoned 1924 — British Geological Survey

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