Viewpark Colliery

Overview

Robert Addie and Sons' two-pit colliery at Viewpark, Uddingston, one of a cluster of mines between Uddingston, Bellshill and the North Calder Water. Two men fell to their deaths fitting compressed-air pipes in the shaft in 1898, and in 1922 an electric coal cutter exploded in the Splint seam, killing two (see Disasters, below). Its last workings were abandoned in 1942.

History

Viewpark Colliery lay near New Edinburgh Road at Viewpark, north-east of Uddingston, one of several mines between Uddingston, Bellshill and the North Calder Water, with Rosehall, Tannochside and Bredisholm. It belonged to Robert Addie and Sons, later Robert Addie and Sons Collieries Ltd, and had two pits, Nos. 1 and 2; its miners lived in rows such as Muirpark and Viewpark Rows.

In 1898 the firm was replacing steam with compressed-air haulage and fitting the pipes in the shaft on idle days, working from a scaffold beside the cage division. On Sunday 7 August the oversman and the engineer fell from it, some 50 fathoms down the shaft; a third man stood on a narrow bunting until he was rescued. Among those killed in the pit over the years were a Polish miner in 1897 and another, aged 18, in 1928.

On 11 April 1922 an electric coal cutter burst in the Splint seam of No. 1 pit, injuring eleven men, two fatally (see Disasters, below). The colliery's Kiltongue workings were abandoned in 1933 and its Humph, Upper and Blackband in 1942.

Geology

The Splint, Virgin, Main, Pyotshaw, Humph, Upper, Kiltongue and Virtuewell coals and the Blackband ironstone, by the abandonment plans; a strong sandstone roof with bands of rock.

Workings

Nos. 1 and 2 pits, with a cage division and a pipe space in the shaft; compressed-air haulage from 1898 and electric coal cutters in the Splint seam by 1922.

Closure

Its Kiltongue workings were abandoned in 1933, the Splint and Virgin in 1939, the Main and Pyotshaw in 1941 and the Humph, Upper and Blackband in 1942.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Disasters & major incidents

• Viewpark Colliery explosion, 1922
  11 April 1922 · Explosion · 2 fatalities
  On the morning of 11 April 1922 an electric coal cutter burst in the eastern section of the Splint seam of No. 1 pit at Robert Addie and Sons' Viewpark Colliery, Uddingston, in a section where gas had been found before. Eleven of the twelve men there were seriously burned; John Chalmers, 21, and Andrew Martin, 46, died two days later. The whole workforce struck the next day, and the inquiry returned an open verdict.

Recorded claims

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

• Viewpark Colliery belonged to Robert Addie and Sons. ^1,2,3
• Viewpark Colliery stood near New Edinburgh Road, one of several mines between Uddingston, Bellshill and the North Calder Water. ⁴
• On 7 August 1898 the oversman and the engineer fell about 50 fathoms down the shaft from a scaffold while fitting compressed-air pipes. ¹
• The colliery had Nos. 1 and 2 pits. ^2,3
• Its Humph, Upper and Blackband workings were abandoned in 1942. ⁵

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Scottish Mining Website: Lanarkshire accidents 1870-1899 (Bothwell, Bellshill, Uddingston) — Scottish Mining Website
2. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Viewpark, No.1 Pit, 1922 — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Viewpark, No.2 Pit, 1902 — Northern Mine Research Society
4. (secondary) Wikipedia: Viewpark — Wikipedia
5. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: Viewpark, Humph, Upper and Blackband, abandoned 1942 — British Geological Survey
6. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: Viewpark, Kiltongue, abandoned 1933 — British Geological Survey
7. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Viewpark, 1928 — Northern Mine Research Society

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