South Blair Colliery

Overview

A small Harthill mine opened in 1900 by Peter Dewar and later worked by the Hirst Coal Company in the Virtuewell seam, with 30 to 80 men, until about 1935.

History

South Blair Colliery, also called South Blair Mine, lay near Harthill and was opened in 1900 by Peter Dewar, with 36 men, 30 of them underground. It raised household, manufacturing and steam coal from the Blackband and Virtuewell seams in 1905 and from the Virtuewell alone from 1910; by 1920 the Ladygrange seam was also worked. The workforce stayed small, 46 in 1905, 41 in 1910 and 38 in 1915.

The mine later passed to the Hirst Coal Company of Glasgow. In 1910 it employed 33 men underground and 15 at the surface; one lived in the mine owners' brick row of one-apartment, back-to-back houses at Hirstrigg, two in houses they owned at Burnside and Hirst, and the other 45 in rented houses at Harthill and West Benhar. Employment grew to 65 in 1923 and 80 in 1933. A plan of abandoned Virtuewell workings is dated 1919, and the colliery is recorded as closing in 1935, with a final Virtuewell plan dated 1937.

Geology

The mine worked the Virtuewell seam, with the Blackband in 1905 and the Ladygrange by 1920.

Workings

A small mine; 60 of the 80 men employed in 1933 worked underground.

Closure

Recorded as closing in 1935; the last abandonment plan of the Virtuewell workings is dated 1937.

What remains

Unknown.

Related mines

• Hirstrigg Colliery — Hirst Coal Company mines near Harthill; in 1910 the mine owners' houses for South Blair's men were at Hirstrigg.

Recorded claims

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

• South Blair Colliery opened in 1900 under Peter Dewar with 36 men. ¹
• In 1910 South Blair Mine employed 33 men underground and 15 above ground, most living in rented houses at Harthill and West Benhar. ²
• South Blair employed 80 men in 1933, 60 below ground. ¹
• South Blair Colliery closed in 1935. ¹
• Abandonment plans of the South Blair Virtuewell workings are dated 1919 and 1937. ^3,4

Sources

1. (primary) South Blair Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (primary) Shotts parish housing conditions of miners, 1910 — Scottish Mining Website — Scottish Mining Website
3. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan 21852721: South Blair, Virtuewell, abandoned 1937 — British Geological Survey
4. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan 21852772: South Blair, Virtuewell, abandoned 1919 — British Geological Survey

Record created: 20 October 2026 · Last researched: 20 October 2026