Waterland Colliery

Overview

Waterland Colliery, Carluke, is recorded in 1880 under William Hamilton and Co.; a 1915 newspaper account of a new colliery nearby describes an older 'Waterlands Pit' on the same ground, worked some forty years before under different owners, Loudon and Miller -- a discrepancy not resolved here.

History

The official 1880 return of UK collieries lists Waterland, Carluke, under William Hamilton and Co. Thomas Hamilton, a brick and tile manufacturer based at Park House, Carstairs, is separately documented working a brickfield at 'Waterlands by Carluke' from at least 1861, alongside other works at Auchengray, Pool, Carmichael and Braidwood -- the same Hamilton family name, and plausibly the same firm, the 1880 return gives for the colliery. A Carluke and Lanark Gazette report of 27 February 1915, covering the sinking of a new shaft nearby by Wilsons & Clyde Coal Co., recalls that the seams the new colliery would work had 'been worked by colliery on the opposite side of the road about forty years ago' -- putting that earlier working at around 1875. That report names it 'Waterlands Pit', on the ground later occupied by the tileworks of Mr Gold, and gives its owner as 'Messrs Loudon & Miller' -- the same partnership that worked the neighbouring East Law Colliery (see that record). Whether 'Waterlands Pit' and 'Waterland Colliery' are the same working under a change of ownership between the 1870s and the 1880 return, or two separate pits sharing the same locality name, is not established by either source and is not resolved here.

Geology

Unknown.

Workings

Unknown beyond its 1880 listing as an operating colliery.

Closure

Unknown; by 1915 the ground was occupied by a tileworks and a new, unrelated colliery shaft was being sunk nearby to work the same seams.

What remains

Unknown.

Unknown.

Nearby mines

• East Law Colliery — 0.2 km NW
• Kingshill No. 3 Colliery — 7.3 km N
• Wilsontown Ironworks — 9.1 km E
• Shotts Iron Works — 9.7 km N, North Lanarkshire
• Home Farm Colliery, Hamilton — 9.9 km W

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

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• A 1915 newspaper report on a new colliery shaft being sunk nearby recalls an older 'Waterlands Pit' on the opposite side of the road, worked some forty years earlier (around 1875) and owned by Loudon and Miller -- the same partnership behind the neighbouring East Law Colliery. (uncertain) ²
• Thomas Hamilton, a brick and tile manufacturer based at Park House, Carstairs, is documented working a brickfield at 'Waterlands by Carluke' from at least 1861, alongside other works at Auchengray, Pool, Carmichael and Braidwood -- the same Hamilton family name the 1880 return gives for the colliery, though the two businesses are not confirmed as the same concern. (uncertain) ²

Recorded claims

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

• Waterland Colliery, Carluke, is listed in the official 1880 return of UK collieries under William Hamilton and Co. ¹
• A 1915 newspaper report on a new colliery shaft being sunk nearby recalls an older 'Waterlands Pit' on the opposite side of the road, worked some forty years earlier (around 1875) and owned by Loudon and Miller -- the same partnership behind the neighbouring East Law Colliery. (uncertain) ²
• Thomas Hamilton, a brick and tile manufacturer based at Park House, Carstairs, is documented working a brickfield at 'Waterlands by Carluke' from at least 1861, alongside other works at Auchengray, Pool, Carmichael and Braidwood -- the same Hamilton family name the 1880 return gives for the colliery, though the two businesses are not confirmed as the same concern. (uncertain) ²

Sources

1. (secondary) List of coal mines UK 1880 — Coalmining History Resource Centre
2. (secondary) Carluke Tileworks, Carluke, South Lanarkshire aka Waterlands — Scotland's Brick and Tile Manufacturing Industry (Carluke Parish Historical Society)

Record created: 6 September 2026 · Last researched: 16 September 2026