Tulligarth Colliery

Overview

A colliery near Clackmannan worked since at least the 1870s, run in the twentieth century by the Tulligarth Coal Company with up to 280 men; its last workings, with Craigrie's, were abandoned in 1957.

History

Tulligarth Colliery lay near Clackmannan. Abandonment plans of Tulligarth workings date from 1878 and 1900, and in January 1908 a fireman of 62, William Mitchell, was killed there when he sat down under the brushing to speak to a miner and a large piece of sandstone fell on him.

In the twentieth century the colliery belonged to the Tulligarth Coal Company, Limited. In 1920 it had two workings: one with 72 men in the Mosie and Splint seams, raising household, manufacturing and steam coal and fireclay, and No. 3 with 95 men in the Mill coal. It employed 280 in 1923, 160 in 1933 and 186 in 1940. Falls of stone from the roof caused its later recorded deaths too: in October 1924 a stone of about 22 hundredweight fell from a break in the roof onto a drawer and his mate pushing an empty tub, killing Thomas Fraser; in April 1927 Adam Hedley Cole was hurt by a stone from the roof and died of his injuries in November 1928; and in May 1938 a three-ton stone killed James McLean, a machineman of 56.

Plans of abandoned Tulligarth workings are dated 1920, 1921, 1935, 1942 and 1945, and those of the joint Craigrie and Tulligarth workings 1957.

Geology

The Mosie, Splint and Mill coals of the Clackmannan coalfield, with fireclay.

Workings

At least three pits, No. 3 working the Mill coal in 1920; haulage roads worked with tubs.

Closure

The joint Craigrie and Tulligarth workings were abandoned in 1957.

What remains

Unknown.

Related mines

• Craigrie Colliery — Both worked by the Tulligarth Coal Company; their last workings were abandoned together in 1957.

Recorded claims

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

• Tulligarth Colliery, Clackmannan, belonged to the Tulligarth Coal Co., Ltd. ^1,2,3
• Tulligarth employed 280 men in 1923, 160 in 1933 and 186 in 1940. ¹
• On 18 May 1938 James McLean, 56, a machineman at Tulligarth Colliery near Clackmannan, was killed by a stone weighing three tons. ³
• Adam Hedley Cole was injured by a stone from the roof at Tulligarth on 19 April 1927 and died of his injuries on 16 November 1928. ²
• The earliest abandonment plan of Tulligarth workings is dated 1878. ⁴
• Abandonment plans of the Craigrie and Tulligarth workings are dated 1957. ⁵

Sources

1. (primary) Tulligarth Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) NMRS mining deaths: Adam Hedley Cole, Tulligarth, 1927-28 — Northern Mine Research Society (mining deaths database)
3. (secondary) NMRS mining deaths: James McLean, Tulligarth, 1938 — Northern Mine Research Society (mining deaths database)
4. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan 21857455: Tulligarth, abandoned 1878 — British Geological Survey
5. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan 21855842: Craigrie and Tulligarth, abandoned 1957 — British Geological Survey

Record created: 20 October 2026 · Last researched: 21 October 2026