Swinhill Colliery

Overview

A colliery at Swinhill (or Swinehill), between Larkhall and Stonehouse, with coke ovens and a tileworks by 1858 and a branch of the Lesmahagow Railway. The Darngavil Coal Company worked its Nos. 2, 5 and 6 pits from 1901 to the 1940s. A fireman died in a gas explosion in 1913, and two of his rescuers received the Edward Medal; two men died in each of three accidents between 1901 and 1939 (see Disasters, below).

History

Swinhill Colliery lay at Swinhill, spelled Swinehill by the railway, in Dalserf parish between Larkhall and Stonehouse. In 1858 Swinehill Colliery had coke ovens and a tileworks, and in 1874 Miller and Rogers were working the Dalserf Collieries, Coke and Brickworks at Swinhill; George Miller held them in 1886. The Lesmahagow Railway's Swinehill Junction was opened for the colliery, and a mineral line ran from it to Pits Nos. 2, 3 and 4; Pits Nos. 5 and 6 are also listed on the line.

From 1901 the Darngavil Coal Company owned it. Two men died when the cage of No. 6 pit was overwound in December 1901, and two more in a roof fall in No. 2 pit in March 1909 (see Disasters, below). On 7 February 1913 a fireman who had gone with a naked light into an old road where gas had gathered was killed by the explosion; the fireman Joseph Campbell and the miner Alexander Farquharson, driven back by afterdamp, crawled in to a blank flange on the compressed-air pipes and unscrewed it to let air through, and both received the Edward Medal. Coal-cutting machines worked the Kiltongue walls of No. 2 pit; in 1914 one caught its machineman's foot and killed him.

No. 3 pit later closed and No. 2 was rebuilt. In 1917 four men fell 24 fathoms when a hand winch failed in No. 5 shaft. On 26 October 1939 an explosion in the Drumgray section killed two miners (see Disasters, below). No. 2 pit was still open in 1940, and the Upper and Lower Drumgray workings of Nos. 2, 3, 5 and 6 were abandoned in 1942.

Geology

The Kiltongue, Jewel, Virtuewell, Ell and Upper and Lower Drumgray coals; firedamp in old roads and the Drumgray section.

Workings

Pits Nos. 2 to 6, coke ovens and a tileworks, coal-cutting machines and compressed-air pipes underground, on a branch of the Lesmahagow Railway.

Closure

No. 3 pit closed before 1940; No. 2 remained open in 1940, and the Drumgray workings of Nos. 2, 3, 5 and 6 were abandoned in 1942.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Cornsilloch Colliery — Both were Darngavil Coal Company collieries in Dalserf parish near Larkhall.

Disasters & major incidents

• Swinhill Colliery overwinding, 1901
  16 December 1901 · Winding / Shaft Accident · 2 fatalities
  On 16 December 1901, as three men stood in the cage at the top of No. 6 pit, Swinhill, near Larkhall, ready to go down, the engineman started the engine the wrong way. The cage was drawn up into the headgear and two of the men fell about 50 fathoms down the shaft; the third was rescued from the top, badly crushed.
• Swinhill Colliery roof fall, 1909
  13 March 1909 · Collapse / Roof Fall · 2 fatalities
  On the morning of Saturday 13 March 1909 men were repairing a roadway in No. 2 pit at the Darngavil Coal Company's Swinhill Colliery, near Larkhall, when a fall of stones came away from the roof and buried two of them. William M'Lean was dead when they were dug out; William Plenderleith lived about two hours.
• Swinhill Colliery explosion, 1939
  26 October 1939 · Explosion · 2 fatalities
  On the afternoon of 26 October 1939 an explosion in the Drumgray section of Swinhill Colliery, Larkhall, killed two miners, Archibald Brown, 35, and John Clark, 16. Other men in the pit were unaffected; seven of them made five attempts to reach the two through dense smoke.

Recorded claims

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

• In 1858 Swinehill Colliery had coke ovens and a tileworks. ¹
• Swinehill Junction on the Lesmahagow Railway was opened for Swinhill Colliery, and a mineral line ran to its pits. ²
• On 7 February 1913 a fireman was killed by an explosion of gas in an old road. ^3,4,5
• Joseph Campbell and Alexander Farquharson were awarded the Edward Medal for their attempt to rescue him. ⁵
• The Darngavil Coal Company owned Swinhill Colliery from 1901. ^3,6,7
• The Lower Drumgray workings of Nos. 2, 3, 5 and 6 were abandoned in 1942. ⁸

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Scottish Brick History: Dalserf Coke, Coal and Brickworks, Swinehill, South Lanarkshire — Scotland's Brick and Tile Manufacturing Industry
2. (secondary) Swinehill Junction — RAILSCOT
3. (secondary) Scottish Mining Website: Lanarkshire accidents (Dalserf, Larkhall) — Scottish Mining Website
4. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Swinhill, 1913 — Northern Mine Research Society
5. (secondary) victoriacrossonline.co.uk: Alexander Farquharson EM — victoriacrossonline.co.uk
6. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Swinhill, No.6 Pit, 1901 — Northern Mine Research Society
7. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Swinhill, 1939 — Northern Mine Research Society
8. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: Swinhill Nos. 2, 3, 5 and 6, Lower Drumgray, abandoned 1942 — British Geological Survey
9. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: Swinhill Nos. 2, 3, 5 and 6, Birkenshaw, Avondale, old mines, Kiltongue, abandoned 1889 — British Geological Survey
10. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Swinhill, No.2 Pit, 1909 — Northern Mine Research Society
11. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Swinhill, No.2 Pit, 1914 — Northern Mine Research Society

Record created: 15 October 2026 · Last researched: 15 October 2026