Lugar Mine

Overview

Bairds and Dalmellington's drift mine at Lugar, Ayrshire, opened in 1942 and worked by the National Coal Board until December 1953. Two drifts, at 1 in 5 and 1 in 3, served about a hundred men, and the coal was washed at Cronberry Moor.

History

Lugar Mine was opened in 1942 by Bairds and Dalmellington Ltd at Lugar in the parish of Auchinleck. It was a drift mine, with a Main Mine driven at 1 in 5 and a Return Mine at 1 in 3 a short distance to the west, and it raised house and steam coal by longwall working.

At nationalisation in 1947 it employed 64 people and raised 8,000 tons of household and industrial coal. The workforce grew to 101 in 1948, when the mine produced 80 tons a day, 20,000 tons a year; it had one screen for dry coal and sent its coal to Cronberry Moor for washing, had no baths or canteen, and made its own electricity. Employment peaked at 130 in 1949, averaging 116 over the mine's life. The Coal Board closed Lugar Mine in December 1953, and it was abandoned in 1954.

Geology

Ayrshire coalfield: house and steam coals.

Workings

Two drifts: the Main Mine at 1 in 5 and the Return Mine at 1 in 3; longwall working; one screen for dry coal, with washing at Cronberry Moor.

Closure

Closed by the National Coal Board in December 1953 and abandoned in 1954.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Cronberry Moor Colliery — Bairds and Dalmellington pits near Lugar; Lugar Mine's coal was washed at Cronberry Moor.

Recorded claims

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

• Lugar Mine, owned by Bairds and Dalmellington, was sunk and began production in 1942, closed in 1953 and was abandoned in 1954. ¹
• Lugar is dated 1942 to December 1953. ²
• It had two drifts: the Main Mine at 1 in 5 and the Return Mine at 1 in 3. ¹
• In 1947 Lugar Mine employed 64 people and raised 8,000 tons of household and industrial coal. ³
• In 1948 it raised 80 tons a day, 20,000 a year, by longwall working with 101 employees, and its coal was washed at Cronberry Moor. ¹
• Its workforce averaged 116 and peaked at 130 in 1949. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Lugar Mine (NRHE 130683) — Historic Environment Scotland (trove.scot, formerly Canmore)
2. (secondary) NCB Collieries - Scotland (Northern Mine Research Society) — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (primary) Lugar Mine — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 4 October 2026 · Last researched: 4 October 2026