Penston Colliery

Overview

The colliery of the old mining barony of Penston near Tranent, famous for its coal since the 14th century, whose last pits were worked by Deans and Moore and others until 1918.

History

Penston, a collier village in Gladsmuir parish about three miles east of Tranent, lay in a barony that belonged at the end of the 13th century to William de Balliol and passed to the Baillies of Lamington. Its coal was famous from the 14th century; in Oliver Cromwell's time it yielded a yearly rental of £400, and in 1834, when the old mines seemed close to exhaustion, a new pit was sunk in another part of the estate. The colliery is also recorded as opening in 1792.

In 1860 the Penston colliery was listed under John Deans, and by 1893, as Penstone, under Deans and Moore of the Billyford Colliery, Tranent, with Ralph Moore as manager. It raised household, manufacturing and steam coal with about 150 to 160 men through the 1890s and 1900s, from the Splint seam in 1905 and the Upper and Lower Diamond by 1910, when the workforce rose to 261. Later owners were the Riggonhead Coal Company and the Udston Colliery Company. By 1915 only nine men remained, working the Upper Diamond, and the colliery closed in 1918. Plans of abandoned Penston Splint workings are dated 1844 and 1869, and of the Upper Diamond and ironstone workings 1928.

Geology

The colliery worked the Splint and the Upper and Lower Diamond seams of the East Lothian coalfield.

Workings

Shaft workings; 210 of the 261 men employed in 1910 worked underground.

Closure

Run down to nine men by 1915 and closed in 1918; plans of its Upper Diamond and ironstone workings are dated 1928.

What remains

Unknown.

Related mines

• Tranent Collieries — Neighbouring East Lothian coal workings around Tranent.

Recorded claims

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

• Penston was famous for excellent coal from the 14th century and yielded a yearly rental of £400 in Oliver Cromwell's time. ¹
• In 1834, when the old Penston mines seemed near exhaustion, a new pit was sunk in another quarter. ¹
• In 1860 Penston colliery, Tranent, was listed under John Deans, and in 1893 under Deans and Moore with Ralph Moore as manager. ^2,3,4
• Penston employed 261 men in 1910 and nine in 1915. ⁴
• Penston Colliery opened in 1792 and closed in 1918. ⁴
• Plans of abandoned Penston Splint workings are dated 1844, and of the Penston Upper Diamond 1928. ^5,6

Sources

1. (secondary) Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for Penston (Groome, Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland, 1882-4) — A Vision of Britain through Time (University of Portsmouth)
2. (primary) List of Mines in Scotland, 1893 — Scottish Mining Website
3. (secondary) List of Collieries In Scotland 1860 — Scottish Mining Website
4. (primary) Penston Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
5. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan 21856734: Penston, Penston Splint, abandoned 1844 — British Geological Survey
6. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan 21905937: Penston, Upper Diamond, abandoned 1928 — British Geological Survey

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