Neilsland Colliery

Overview

A John Watson Ltd colliery at Hamilton, sunk from 1894 and employing nearly a thousand men by 1910, where the collapse of a filled shaft from the old Eddlewood pit killed five men in 1916.

History

Neilsland Colliery lay at Hamilton, ten and a half miles south-east of Glasgow, and belonged throughout its recorded life to John Watson Ltd. It was being sunk in 1894, when 80 men were employed, and the sinking claimed lives early: George Lyness was killed when a plank fell in the shaft in May 1895 and John Mooney fell into the shaft from the surface that September. In 1908 the sinking contractor Robert Muir fell 100 feet from a hanging scaffold into the water at the shaft bottom.

The colliery grew quickly, from 132 men in 1896 to 455 in 1900, 700 in 1905 and 973 in 1910, and still employed 958 in 1923. It worked the Ell, Humph, Main, Pyotshaw, Splint and Virtuewell coals, later the Kiltongue and Blackband as well, for household, manufacturing and steam coal.

Neilsland also took over the coal of the neighbouring Eddlewood Colliery, another Watson pit, whose No. 3 shaft had been filled with washery sludge. On 26 April 1916 that fill burst into the Ell Coal workings being driven towards the old shaft, and five men were killed (see Disasters, below).

The workings were abandoned seam by seam between 1921 and 1932, the Main, Humph, Virgin and Splint and Blackband plans all being lodged in 1932.

Geology

Lanarkshire Coal Measures. The colliery worked the Ell, Humph, Main, Pyotshaw, Splint and Virtuewell coals, and by 1920 the Kiltongue and Blackband as well.

Workings

A shaft colliery with its own pits (the 1916 newspapers name No. 1 Pit). The Ell Coal left round Eddlewood Colliery was reached by mines and a blind pit, driving towards the filled No. 3 Eddlewood shaft.

Closure

Abandonment plans were lodged for the Pyotshaw in 1921, the Kiltongue in 1926, the Virtuewell in 1928, the Pyotshaw and Ell in 1931 and the Main, Humph, Virgin and Splint and Blackband in 1932, which marks the end of working.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Eddlewood Colliery — John Watson Ltd's neighbouring pit: Eddlewood's Ell Coal was worked from Neilsland, and the filled Eddlewood No. 3 shaft burst into Neilsland's workings in 1916.

Disasters & major incidents

• Neilsland Colliery inrush, 1916
  26 April 1916 · Flooding / Inundation · 5 fatalities
  On 26 April 1916 washery sludge used to fill the old No. 3 Eddlewood shaft burst into the Ell Coal workings of John Watson Ltd's Neilsland Colliery, Hamilton, and buried five men.

Recorded claims

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

• In 1894 Neilsland employed 80 people (24 below, 56 surface) and was sinking. ¹
• Employment rose from 132 in 1896 to 455 in 1900, 700 in 1905 and 973 in 1910, and was 958 in 1920 and 1923. ¹
• The colliery was owned by John Watson Ltd. ^1,2,3
• In 1910 the colliery worked the Ell, Humph, Main, Pyotshaw, Splint and Virtuewell seams; by 1920 also the Blackband and Kiltongue. ¹
• The part of the Ell Coal left when Eddlewood Colliery was abandoned was to be worked from the Neilsland shafts, and had been reached near the No. 3 Eddlewood shaft by mines and a blind pit. ^2,3
• The Neilsland Main seam workings were abandoned in 1932. ⁴
• The Neilsland Pyotshaw workings were abandoned in 1921. ⁵
• In 1908 the sinking contractor Robert Muir, working on a hanging scaffold, tripped over a bunton and fell 100 feet into 7 feet of water. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Durham Mining Museum - Neilsland Colliery (UK) — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Neilsland Colliery Inrush - Lanarkshire - 1916 - Northern Mine Research Society — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (secondary) Neilsland 1916 - Scottish Mining Website — Scottish Mining Website
4. (primary) BGS mine plans: Neilsland (Main, abandoned 1932) — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority
5. (primary) BGS mine plans: Neilsland (Pyotshaw, abandoned 1921) — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority

Record created: 1 October 2026 · Last researched: 2 October 2026