	Polkemmet Colliery	Index	Polkemmet Colliery

Polkemmet Colliery

Location:	13 miles [21 km] NNE of Lanark
Map Ref:	(Sheet 65 Falkirk and Linlithgow) NS933640, 55° 51' 27" N, 3° 42' 17" W
Opened:
Closed:
Owners:	James Wood Ltd.
	William Dixon Ltd.
	1947 - National Coal Board (N.C.B.)
Output:	1855 - Coal.
	1894 - Coal: Household, Manufacturing, Steam. Ironstone. Fireclay.
	1896 - Coal: Household, Manufacturing, Steam. Ironstone. Fireclay.
	1900 - Coal: Household, Manufacturing, Steam. Ironstone. Fireclay.
	1910 - Coal: Household, Manufacturing, Steam.
	1947 - Coal: Coking, Household, Industrial, Manufacturing, Steam. (300,000 tons)
	1954 - Coal: Coking.
Employment:	1894 - 202 (183 below, 19 surface)
	1896 - 346 (305 below, 41 surface)
	1900 - 245 (208 below, 37 surface)
	1910 - 84 (72 below, 12 surface)
	1915 - 35 [Sinking]
	1920 - 103 (49 below, 54 surface) [Sinking]
	1923 - 247 (194 below, 53 surface)
	1933 - 1,000 (806 below, 194 surface)
	1940 - 1,142 (898 below, 244 surface)
	1947 - 891 (670 below, 221 surface)
	1954 - 1,514 (1,184 below, 330 surface)
Seams Worked:	1910 - Ball, Main
	1954 - Jewel, Wilsontown Main
Notes:	Current Status - Page under construction! and is far, far from complete!

Description

Disasters (5 or more killed)

None Found

Names of those killed at this colliery

Please note that this collection of names is by no means complete!

						Bell, Alexander, 09 Aug 1861, Collier, Fall of roof
						Beveridge, James, 03 Apr 1890, 11 p.m., 5th hour of shift, aged 55, Roadsman, Runaway tubs on incline
						Campbell, Robert, 26 May 1922, 1.30 a.m., 4th hour of shift, aged 18, Sinker, Cage guides were being fitted in No 1 shaft after completion of the sinking. Deceased, in order to tighten up a bolt more conveniently, attempted to spring on to a bunton, but was caught by the plumb line and fell 180ft into the sump. The scaffold on which he was working was not provided with a fence. The use of safety belts would probably have prevented the accident.
						Clark, Daniel, 21 Nov 1859, Sinker, By falling down, by engineman neglecting to secure winding drum to the engine, while descending the pit [More information ...]
						Ezzie, Michael, 20 May 1934, aged 30, Electrical Engineer, Caught in a dross conveyor
						Haddow, William, 17 Dec 1857, Bottomer, Falling from a mid-working to pit bottom
						Malcolm, Thomas, 18 May 1899, aged 36, Sinker, The accident occurred in a sinking pit. Deceased and two other sinkers were preparing to fire several shots in the bottom, and prior to lighting the shots a canvas pipe was sent to the surface fixed by a sling chain ; on arriving there the pipe was detached and the chain was thrown into the shaft, the weight of which was to take the winding rope down to the bottom. By mistake, the chain had also been detached from the rope, and it fell to the bottom and struck deceased.
						McConnell, Thomas, 24 Apr 1907, (accident: 17 Apr 1907), aged 37, Miner, Deceased was holing his coal in a stooping place, when it suddenly fell over the sprags, and crushed him ; he died from his injuries seven days later
						Morris, John, 09 Jul 1887, aged 18, Collier, Fall of side. At face; long wall
						Polkinghorn, Benjamin, 25 Dec 1857, Collier, By gunpowder igniting whilst steming a shot
						Simpson, George, 02 Dec 1934, aged 42, Brusher, Killed by a fall of stone
						Stafford, William, 12 Jan 1872, aged 15, Drawer, Fell down shaft
						Strong, George, 27 Oct 1852, Earth falling on him
						Swan, James, 17 Jan 1861, Miner, Fall of stone from roof

						14 names found

If you know of any fatalities missing from the above list then please contact us with the details and we will add them to our database.

Those names marked with , have a web page providing individual details of the accident, the page may also include a photograph of the deceased. Click on the symbol next to the name to see the web page.

more information on some of the fatalities shown above

Collieries and Pits within 5 miles (8km)

a simulated map showing the immediate vicinity of Polkemmet Colliery

list of collieries/pits etc. near to Polkemmet Colliery

Credits

Sources:

1852 (Jul-Dec) Mines Inspectors Report, by William Lancaster, H.M. Inspector of Mines, published in 1854
1857 Mines Inspectors Report, by Robert Williams, H.M. Inspector of Mines
1859 Mines Inspectors Report, East of Scotland District by Robert Williams, H.M. Inspector of Mines
1861 Mines Inspectors Report, by Robert Williams, H.M. Inspector of Mines
1872 Mines Inspectors Report (C. 840), Scotland, East District by Ralph Moore, H.M. Inspector of Mines Where to find this report
1890 Mines Inspectors Report (C 6346), East Scotland District (No. 1) by J. B. Atkinson, H.M. Inspector of Mines Where to find this report
1894 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1896 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department, also available online at Peak District Mines Historical Society Ltd
1899 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 134), East Scotland District (No. 1) by J. B. Atkinson, H.M. Inspector of Mines Where to find this report
1900 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1907 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 4045), East Scotland District (No. 1) by Robert McLaren, H.M. Inspector of Mines Where to find this report
1910 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1915 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1920 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1922 Mines Inspectors Report
1923 Colliery Year Book and Coal Trades Directory. Published by The Louis Cassier Co. Ltd., from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian
1933 Colliery Year Book and Coal Trades Directory. Published by The Louis Cassier Co. Ltd., from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian
1940 Colliery Year Book and Coal Trades Directory. Published by The Louis Cassier Co. Ltd., from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian
1947 Colliery Year Book and Coal Trades Directory. Published by The Louis Cassier Co. Ltd., from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian
1954 Guide to the Coalfields published by the Colliery Guardian
Mineral Statistics for 1855 (Memoirs of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, and of the Museum of Practical Geology), compiled by Robert Hunt, F.R.S.