Skerrington Colliery

Overview

A group of numbered pits at Hurlford, near Kilmarnock, owned by A. Gilmour and Co. in 1854 and by J. and R. Howie in 1900. A firedamp explosion in No. 12 pit killed four men in 1854; the colliery plant was sold in 1890, and the last workings in the McNaught seam were abandoned in 1908.

History

Skerrington Colliery was a group of numbered pits at Hurlford, near Kilmarnock. On 24 November 1854 firedamp exploded in No. 12 Skerrington pit, belonging to Messrs A. Gilmour and Co., with such force that nearly twenty-six fathoms of the wooden partition in the shaft were blown down; it fell on the men at the bottom, and four bodies were recovered only after fifteen hours' digging, little burned, the men apparently suffocated.

The pits were busy through the 1880s. A fall of coal killed a miner in No. 18 pit in 1881 and another in one of the colliery's pits in 1883. In February 1888 a cage stuck in the shaft of the Comet pit while the engineman kept paying out rope, and when it freed it ran about ten fathoms to the bottom, killing a twenty-year-old collier; that June a collier working the Major seam in No. 18 pit pushed a hutch into the shaft when the cage was not there and fell twenty fathoms with it.

The Major, Tourha', Main and McNaught workings of the Hurlford or Skerrington pits were abandoned in 1889, and in 1890 Shirlaw, Allan and Co. sold the plant of the Skerrington Collieries near Hurlford station. Working went on: J. and R. Howie owned Skerrington No. 20 in 1900, when a miner was killed firing a shot, and abandonment plans for Nos. 12 and 19 (1900), the Stone and Major (1901), the Main (1903), the Tourha' (1906) and finally the McNaught seam (1908) record the last of the workings.

Geology

Ayrshire Coal Measures at Hurlford: the Major, Stone, Tourha', Main, McNaught and Mid coals. Firedamp was present in No. 12 pit in 1854.

Workings

Numbered shafts including Nos. 12, 18, 19 and 20 and the Comet pit; No. 18 reached the Major seam at about twenty fathoms, and the Comet pit's cage worked a shaft of about ten fathoms to the Mid coal.

Closure

The plant was sold at auction in 1890 after the 1889 abandonments; the later workings were abandoned seam by seam between 1900 and 1908.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Recorded claims

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

• On 24 November 1854 an explosion of firedamp in No. 12 Skerrington pit, Hurlford, belonging to A. Gilmour and Co., blew down the shaft partition and killed four men. ¹
• In February 1888 a cage in the Comet pit of Skerrington Colliery ran about ten fathoms to the bottom after sticking in the shaft, killing a collier. ²
• In June 1888 a collier pushed a hutch into the shaft of No. 18 pit, Skerrington, and fell twenty fathoms to the bottom. ²
• The plant of the Skerrington Collieries near Hurlford station was sold by Shirlaw, Allan and Co. in 1890. ³
• Skerrington No. 20 pit was owned by J. and R. Howie in 1900, when a miner was killed firing a shot. ⁴
• The Skerrington workings were abandoned seam by seam between 1889 and 1908, the McNaught last. ^5,6,7

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Scottish Mining Website: pre-1855 Accidents (Ayrshire) — Scottish Mining Website
2. (primary) Ayrshire accidents 1871-1900 — Scottish Mining Website — Scottish Mining Website
3. (primary) University of Glasgow Archives: DC102 Records of Shirlaw Allan, industrial auctioneers, Hamilton (item list) — University of Glasgow Archives
4. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Skerrington, No.20, 1900 — Northern Mine Research Society
5. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: Hurlford or Skerrington, Major, abandoned 1889 — British Geological Survey
6. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: Skerrington, Stone and Major, abandoned 1901 — British Geological Survey
7. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: Skerrington, McNaught, abandoned 1908 — British Geological Survey
8. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: Skerrington 12 and 19 Pits, McNaught, abandoned 1900 — British Geological Survey

Record created: 16 October 2026 · Last researched: 16 October 2026