Mauricewood Colliery

Overview

A Midlothian pit owned by the Shotts Iron Company, permanently closed within months of an underground fire on 5 September 1889 that killed 63 of the 70 men and boys working there that day — one of Scotland's worst mining disasters.

History

Mauricewood Colliery, near Auchendinny outside Penicuik, was owned by the Shotts Iron Company Ltd. Its main shaft reached 239 metres. On 5 September 1889, at around noon, sections of the wooden lining of a ventilation shaft caught fire; smoke and flame spread into the return airway and penetrated the working sections below, cutting off escape by the main shaft. Of the 70 men and boys underground that day, 63 died and only 7 survived — one of the worst mining disasters in Scottish history (see Disasters, below).

The pit never reopened for production. Its closure caused major losses to the two local railway lines that had served it, the Penicuik Railway and the Edinburgh, Loanhead and Roslin Railway. A memorial to the disaster's dead was erected on the site's centenary in 1989, standing just off Mauricewood Road, and the tragedy later inspired Dorothy Alexander's 2016 novel 'The Mauricewood Devils', which explores the experience of the disaster's widows and families.

Geology

Coal of the Midlothian field; the seams worked are not recorded.

Workings

A single main shaft, 239 metres deep, with a separate ventilation shaft whose wooden lining caught fire in 1889.

Closure

The colliery never reopened for production after the 1889 fire disaster.

What remains

A memorial to the 1889 disaster's dead, erected on its centenary in 1989, stands just off Mauricewood Road.

Disasters & major incidents

• Mauricewood Colliery fire, 1889
  5 September 1889 · Fire · 63 fatalities
  An underground fire at Mauricewood Colliery, near Penicuik, on 5 September 1889 killed 63 of the 70 men and boys working the pit that day, one of the worst mining disasters in Scottish history; it took over six months to recover all the bodies.

What's uncertain

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

• The pit was sunk by the Shotts Iron Company in the 1870s (reported as c.1875), initially for ironstone before working coal. (uncertain) ³

Recorded claims

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

• Mauricewood Colliery, near Auchendinny outside Penicuik, was owned by the Shotts Iron Company Ltd; its main shaft reached 239 metres. ¹
• On 5 September 1889, a fire in the ventilation shaft's wooden lining spread into the workings, killing 63 of the 70 men and boys underground; only 7 survived. ^1,2
• The colliery never reopened for production after the disaster, causing major losses to the two local railway lines that had served it. ¹
• A memorial to the disaster's dead was erected on the site's centenary in 1989, standing just off Mauricewood Road; the disaster later inspired Dorothy Alexander's 2016 novel 'The Mauricewood Devils'. ¹
• The pit was sunk by the Shotts Iron Company in the 1870s (reported as c.1875), initially for ironstone before working coal. (uncertain) ³

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Mauricewood Colliery disaster — Wikipedia
2. (secondary) Mauricewood Colliery Fire - Glencourse - 1889 — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (secondary) Mauricewood Pit — RAILSCOT

Record created: 27 August 2026 · Last researched: 31 August 2026