Newcraighall Colliery

Overview

Newcraighall Colliery, sunk in 1897 just as news of the Klondike Gold Rush reached Scotland, earned the nickname 'the Klondyke' that outlived the pit itself by decades — one of several collieries the Niddrie and Benhar Coal Company drove into the coalfield east of Edinburgh, working seams prized as much for their oil-rich cannel coal as for ordinary household fuel.

History

Coal had been worked in the Niddrie area since antiquity under the landowning Wauchope family of Niddrie Marischal, but organised large-scale extraction began when the Niddrie Coal Company Limited was formed in 1874 to acquire the mineral rights across Niddrie, Woolmet and Edmonstone; the company was reconstituted as the Niddrie and Benhar Coal Company Limited in 1882. In 1897 the company began sinking a large new colliery at Newcraighall — nicknamed 'the Klondyke' after the gold rush then gripping the news, of 1896-99 — with a further pit at Woolmet following in 1898. The demand for workers at these new pits drove the growth of the villages of Jewel and Newcraighall itself. The colliery worked the Great Seam, South Parrot, Stairhead and North Greens (or Jewel) seams, producing household and cannel coals; the Stairhead seam also yielded ironstone. Cannel coal, rich in bituminous oils, burned with a clean, bright light and was valued for lighting before domestic gas became widely available, giving Newcraighall's output a value beyond ordinary steam or household coal. The colliery closed in 1968, with its workforce transferring to the nearby Bilston Glen colliery and ultimately to Monktonhall, the last colliery working in the area, which closed in 1998.

Geology

The mine worked Carboniferous Coal Measures of the Midlothian Coalfield, on the Great Seam, South Parrot, Stairhead and North Greens (Jewel) seams — the Stairhead seam also yielding ironstone.

Geological setting: Sedimentary Beds and Seams (well documented example)

Workings

The colliery worked the Great Seam, South Parrot, Stairhead and North Greens (Jewel) seams; cannel coal from these seams, rich in bituminous oils, was valued for the clean, bright light it gave when burned.

Closure

The colliery closed in 1968, its workforce transferring to Bilston Glen and eventually to Monktonhall, the last colliery working in the district, which closed in 1998.

What remains

Little sign of Newcraighall's mining past survives today; some of the associated miners' cottages have been restored and are category C listed buildings.

Little visible trace of the colliery itself remains; restored miners' cottages nearby are separately listed.

Abandoned workings can be dangerous — unstable ground, uncapped shafts, flooding and bad air are common even where a site looks safe from the surface. This entry describes history and general location only; it is not an access guide.

Recorded claims

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

• The Niddrie and Benhar Coal Company began sinking Newcraighall Colliery in 1897, nicknamed 'the Klondyke' after the Klondike Gold Rush of 1896-99 then dominating the news; a further pit at Woolmet followed in 1898. ¹
• The colliery worked the Great Seam, South Parrot, Stairhead and North Greens (Jewel) seams, producing household and cannel coals; the Stairhead seam also yielded ironstone. ¹
• The colliery operated between 1897 and 1968; today little sign of Newcraighall's mining past survives, though some restored miners' cottages nearby are category C listed buildings. ²
• The colliery was served by sidings on the former Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway alignment between Niddrie West Junction and Niddrie, its construction obliterating the earlier 'Branch House' station building. ³

Photographs & further reading

This page doesn't try to reproduce everything — these are the best original sources found for this mine.

Sources

1. (secondary) The thread about the little suburban 'Jewel Carriageway' — Threadinburgh
2. (primary) ARO29: Newcraighall, Edinburgh — A landscape of change through its archaeology and history — GUARD Archaeology / Archaeology Reports Online
3. (secondary) Newcraighall Colliery — RAILSCOT

Record created: 27 August 2026 · Last researched: 28 August 2026