Robroyston Colliery

Overview

John Watson Ltd's colliery at Barmulloch on the north-east edge of Glasgow, working coal and ironstone in the Possil, Kilsyth Coking and other seams, with its last plans abandoned in 1933. On 28 March 1924 an overwind sent one cage into the headgear and the other into the sump; fourteen men were hurt and five died.

History

Robroyston Colliery lay at Barmulloch, Robroyston, on the north-east edge of Glasgow, near Millerston, and in the 1920s belonged to John Watson Ltd. Ironstone had been worked on the Robroyston ground in the nineteenth century, and the colliery worked a run of coals and ironstones: the Possil ironstone, abandoned in 1913, the Hirst in 1922, the Lower Possil in 1925, the Parting in 1928, and the Kilsyth Coking, Possil Main, Jewel and Knightswood Gas coals in 1933.

On the night of 28 March 1924, as the back shift came up and the night shift went down, the winding engine overwound: the ascending cage with eight men crashed into the beams of the headgear, and the descending cage with six fell into the sump. Five men died and the rest were seriously injured (see Disasters, below).

Geology

Coal and ironstone seams of the Glasgow coalfield: the Possil ironstone, Hirst, Lower Possil, Parting, Kilsyth Coking, Possil Main, Jewel and Knightswood Gas.

Workings

A downcast and an upcast shaft, the downcast wound by one engine with two cages; endless-rope haulage underground.

Closure

The last abandonment plans, for the Kilsyth Coking, Possil Main, Jewel and Knightswood Gas seams, are dated 1933.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Disasters & major incidents

• Robroyston Colliery overwind, 1924
  28 March 1924 · Winding / Shaft Accident · 5 fatalities
  At about quarter past ten on the night of 28 March 1924, as the back shift came up and the night shift went down at Robroyston Colliery, the winding engine overwound. The ascending cage, with eight men, smashed into the headgear beams; the descending cage, with six, crashed into the sump. All fourteen were injured and five died.

Recorded claims

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

• Robroyston Colliery belonged to John Watson Ltd. ^1,2
• It lay at Barmulloch, Lanarkshire. ^2,3
• On 28 March 1924 an overwind killed five men. ^1,2,3,4,5,6
• Its Kilsyth Coking, Possil Main, Jewel and Knightswood Gas workings were abandoned in 1933. ⁷

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Scottish Mining Website: Robroyston 1924 — Scottish Mining Website
2. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Antanas Stuksis, Robroyston, 28 March 1924 — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Kazimiras Yutinskis, Robroyston, 1924 — Northern Mine Research Society
4. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Francis McGeoch, Robroyston, 1924 — Northern Mine Research Society
5. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Robert Woolley, Robroyston, 1924 — Northern Mine Research Society
6. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Francis Henry, Robroyston, 1924 — Northern Mine Research Society
7. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: Robroyston (Kilsyth Coking), abandoned 1933 — British Geological Survey

Record created: 11 October 2026 · Last researched: 11 October 2026