Loudoun Colliery

Overview

A colliery near Galston worked through three pits by the Eglinton Iron Company and William Baird and Company, with over 200 men before the First World War; its last plans date from 1928.

History

Loudoun Colliery lay near Galston, six miles east of Kilmarnock, and was worked through three pits, Nos. 1, 2 and 3. Like neighbouring Grougar it passed from the Portland Iron Company to the Eglinton Iron Company and William Baird and Company, and finally to the Burnbank and Grougar Coal Company. A pony driver of 14 was killed in 1878 when he fell before the train of loaded hutches he had charge of, and on 20 October 1885 two sinkers, Robert Hamilton and Robert Roxburgh, died when a rope broke while they were repairing a shaft. In 1893 Loudoun was listed under the Eglinton company with John Love as manager.

The colliery raised household and manufacturing coal from the Major, McNaught and Tourha' seams, and later the Main. Employment grew from 80 in 1894 to 201 in 1910 and 237 at No. 3 in 1915. In December 1910 a miner holing in a dirt band halfway up the seam was killed by a fall of top coal, and a brakesman of 19 at the blind pit of No. 3, forgetting the cage was at the bottom, pushed a derailed hutch through the safety gates and fell with it 36 yards. By 1923 No. 2 had 115 men. Abandonment plans of Loudoun workings run from 1903 to 1928.

Geology

The Major, McNaught, Tourha' and Main coals of the Ayrshire coalfield.

Workings

Nos. 1, 2 and 3 pits; a blind pit 36 yards deep at No. 3; hutch trains drawn by ponies.

Closure

No. 2 employed 115 men in 1923; the last abandonment plan, of No. 3, is dated 1928.

What remains

Unknown.

Related mines

• Gauchalland Colliery — Neighbouring collieries at Galston.
• Grougar Colliery — Worked by the same succession of owners; both listed under the Eglinton Iron Co. with John Love as manager in 1893.

Recorded claims

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

• Loudoun Colliery's owners were the Portland Iron Co., the Eglinton Iron Co., William Baird and Co. and the Burnbank and Grougar Coal Co. Ltd. ¹
• In December 1910 a brakesman of 19 at the No. 3 blind pit, Loudoun, fell 36 yards with a hutch through the safety gates. ^2,1
• In 1893 Loudoun was listed under the Eglinton Iron Co. with John Love as manager. ³
• Loudoun employed 80 men in 1894 and 201 in 1910; No. 3 employed 237 in 1915. ¹
• The last abandonment plan of Loudoun, of No. 3, is dated 1928. ⁴

Sources

1. (primary) Loudoun Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Scottish mining deaths, 1910 (index) — Scottish Mining Website
3. (primary) List of Mines in Scotland, 1893 — Scottish Mining Website
4. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan 21853881: Loudoun No 3, abandoned 1928 — British Geological Survey

Record created: 21 October 2026 · Last researched: 21 October 2026