Smeaton Colliery

Overview

Smeaton, on the Dalkeith side of the Esk, was returned by the National Coal Board as Dalkeith 5 and 9 Colliery. Six surface mines were driven and only two ever produced; the rest carried air, men and access. A large washery was put up beside No. 9 in 1953 and took the output of seven neighbouring collieries as well as this one, the waste going to the old bing by aerial ropeway. It closed in 1978.

History

Historic Environment Scotland's record gives sinking and production as commencing in 1903 under A. G. Moore and Company, raising house and manufacturing coal. Six surface mines were driven, of which only Nos. 5 and 9 were used for production; No. 6 was for ventilation and man-riding and Nos. 7 and 8 for access. Plans for two further drifts, 10 and 11, drawn up in the 1950s, were never carried out. The National Coal Board's report of 15 July 1948 gives the colliery an output of 490 tons a day and 122,500 tons a year with 401 employees, a Dickson and Mann Lurig-type washer, a first-aid room, a canteen not in use, and all electricity bought from the South East Scotland Electricity Board. In 1953 a large new washery was built beside Mine No. 9. It took not only this colliery's output but that of Meadowmill, Winton, Limeylands, Oxenford, Castle, Carberry and Tynemount, and the waste went by aerial ropeway to the old bing at Dalkeith 1, 2 and 3. Its average workforce across its life was 617 and its peak 898, reached in 1964. It closed in 1978. The Durham Mining Museum's Smeaton Colliery page carries a death from 1877, which is a quarter of a century before the 1903 sinking: Alexander Bennet, a collier of 21, killed by a fall of coal while shearing head coal on 10 January that year. Two later deaths are also recorded — Francis M. Chalmers, 54, killed by a fall of roof on 24 March 1932, and George Duncan, a roadsman of 68, crushed by hutches on 30 July 1934. The 1877 death indicates working on this ground well before the colliery the Coal Board inherited, and nothing read here explains the gap.

Geology

Smeaton worked the Midlothian coalfield on the Dalkeith side, raising house and manufacturing coal. No seam names have been found in the sources read for this record.

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

Workings

Six surface mines were driven and only two, Nos. 5 and 9, were ever used for production. No. 6 served for ventilation and man-riding and Nos. 7 and 8 for access. Two further drifts, 10 and 11, were planned in the 1950s and never made. The surface plant included a Dickson and Mann Lurig-type washer, replaced in 1953 by a large new washery beside Mine No. 9 that handled seven other collieries' coal as well, with an aerial ropeway carrying the waste to the old bing at Dalkeith 1, 2 and 3.

Closure

The colliery closed in 1978, having peaked at 898 people in 1964.

What remains

The Smeaton Colliery bing remains beside the site. A proposed plan to recycle it had not been implemented when it was photographed in 2010, and colliery waste is visible at Smeaton Shaw nearby.

The colliery bing.

Related mines

• Carberry Colliery — Carberry sent its output to the washery at Smeaton after 1953.
• Limeylands Colliery — Limeylands sent its output to the washery at Smeaton after 1953.
• Tynemount Colliery — Tynemount was one of the seven neighbouring collieries whose output went to the new washery built beside Smeaton No. 9 in 1953.

Nearby mines

• Carberry Colliery — 1.5 km N, East Lothian
• Fordel Mains Colliery — 1.6 km S
• Monktonhall Colliery — 2.5 km NW
• Limeylands Colliery — 3.1 km E, East Lothian
• Wallyford Colliery — 3.7 km N, East Lothian

Straight-line distance, within 15 km. Show on the map.

Recorded claims

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

• Six surface mines were originally driven and only two were eventually brought into operation. No. 6 was for ventilation and man-riding, Nos. 7 and 8 for access, so only Nos. 5 and 9 were used for production. Plans for two new drifts, 10 and 11, in the 1950s were never realised. ¹
• A large new washery was built beside Mine No. 9 in 1953 and received the output of the Dalkeith colliery and of Meadowmill, Winton, Limeylands, Oxenford, Castle, Carberry and Tynemount. The waste was taken by aerial ropeway to the old bing at Dalkeith 1, 2 and 3. ¹
• Historic Environment Scotland gives sinking and production as commencing in 1903. The Durham Mining Museum records a death at Smeaton Colliery on 10 January 1877, a quarter of a century earlier: Alexander Bennet, a collier of 21, killed by a fall of coal while shearing head coal. Nothing read here reconciles the two. (disputed) ^2,1

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Dalkeith Colliery — Historic Environment Scotland
2. (secondary) Smeaton Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
3. (observational) Smeaton Colliery bing (Geograph 1942103) — Geograph Britain and Ireland, Kim Traynor

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