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Monktonhall Colliery

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Colliery (20th Century)

Site Name Monktonhall Colliery

Classification Colliery (20th Century)

Alternative Name(s) Newton

Canmore ID 72677

Site Number NT37SW 198

NGR NT 321 702

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/72677

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
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Digital Images

Aerial view.
Aerial view.General view from SW, showing offices on left and baths on right, with No. 2 shaft winding tower on left and No. 1 shaft winding tower on right in background.General view from S of no. 1 shaft winding tower, Monktonhall Colliery, built from re-inforced concrete, used to wind coal and men using two tower-mounted, geared, multi-rope A.C. friction winders with skip and counterweight, both manually controlled and equipped with dynamic braking. No. 1 shaft is also the upcast air shaft.General view from top of No. 1 shaft winding tower (from North West) of setting ponds for water pumped out of mine by underground pumps. A steel-framed building clad with sheet alloy (right) houses water treatment plant, treated water eventually being pumped into a nearby river.View from N of No. 2 winding tower of No. 1 winding tower, used to wind coal and men using two tower-mounted, geared, multirope A.C. friction winders with skip and counterweight, both manually controlled and equipped with dynamic braking. The boilerhouse can also be seen (bottom right).Aerial view.Aerial view.Aerial view.Interior. View on top floor of No.1 shaft tower showing winding engines with electric motor, gearbox and cable drum of the 1A winder in foreground (with 1B behind). The two winders are equipped with 14-tonne skips, and are together designed to lift 430 tonnes of coal per hour. The counterweights have rope guides.General view from NE, from top of no.2 winding tower of coal-stocking ground, with S end of pitead baths (right) and weighbridge (centre left).Detail of one of two Penman Cornish-type coal-fired boilers in boiler house, with Oldbury chain-grate automatic stoker retracted.General view from top of No. 1 shaft winding tower from NE of coal-stocking ground (16.3 acres).General view from SSE from top of No. 1 winding tower of (right to left), No. 2 winding tower, workshops and lamproom, offices and canteen.Aerial view.Aerial view.Aerial view.Aerial view.Aerial view.Aerial view.General view of car hall at top of No. 2 shaft, showing cage with door open, and vertical sliding door in raised position. The protective steel doors and walls around the top of the shaft are designed to seal the shaft, protecting the flow of downcast air from the adjacent fan house into the mine. Monktonhall Colliery.General view from S of No. 2 winding tower, built from re-inforced concrete, and used to wind men and materials using a tower-mounted, geared, A.C. multi-rope friction winder with cage and counterweight, manually controlled, with dynamic braking. No. 2 shaft is also the downcast airshaft.Aerial view.General view from (NE) top of No. 2 winding tower of (left to right) pithead baths and canteen, with overhead walkway to office, workshop and lamp room buildings. Also visible is a large car park for employees, and (background, left) part of the coal-stocking ground.General view of one of two identical fans, made by Mather and Platt of Manchester, driven by 3,300 volt, 160 amp motors (1030 BHP, 750/740 RPM), located on the upper floor of the fan house. Each fan, operated seperately, provides 212.4 cubic metres of air per second at 2490 N/sqm. In cold conditions the air can be heated.General view from top of No. 1 shaft winding-tower (from West) of the 3180 tonne rapid-loading surface bunker, capable of loading five 32-tonne wagons simultaneously, loading a complete 29-wagon train in about 30 minutes. When working, trains delivered all the mine's daily output of coal to Cockenzie Power Station nearby.General view from top of no. 1 shaft winding tower, from SE of pithead baths.Aerial view.Aerial view.Interior. Detail of one of the two Penman boilers in boiler house, with oldbury chain-grate automatic stoker partly retracted.General view view no.2 Winding Tower (South) showing (foreground, left to right), fanhouse and stores, and (background, left to right), open electricity substation, electricity substation building and compressor house.Monktonhall Colliery: general view from the top of no.2 winding tower looking S, showing (left to right) covered belt conveyors, rapid loading surface bunker; (in distance) coal preparation plant, settling ponds; (foreground) No.1 winding tower and boilerhouse.General view from NW of W side of fan house, showing intake of one of the two fans used to drive air down No. 2 shaft.General view from S of No. 1 shaft winding tower, used to wind coal and men using two tower-mounted, geared, multi-rope A.C. friction winders with skip and counterweight, both manually controlled and equipped with dynamic breaking. A spare skip can be seen to the left of the tower.General view on top floor of no. 2 shaft tower showing the exciter from right to left, electric motor, gearbox and cable drum of the no. 2 winder. This winder is equipped with one large cage and a counterweight on wood guides, and can carry 130 men on two decks.View from S showing top of No. 1 winding tower of No. 2 winding tower, built of re-inforced concrete, and used to wind men and materials using a tower-mounted, geared, A.C. multi-rope friction winder with cage and counterweight, manually controlled, with dynamic braking. Part of the fanhouse is visible behind the tower.General view from NW of No. 2 winding tower of covered belt-conveyors, coal preparation plant, railway sidings, rapid-loading surface bunker, and two settling ponds at far right.General view from W of top of No. 2 winding tower of part of mine compound, railway sidings and sidings control building, and British Rail sidings in background.Oblique aerial view centred on former site of colliery, taken from the WSW.Oblique aerial view centred on former site of colliery, taken from the SW.Aerial view.Aerial view.Interior. General view on top floor of No. 1 shaft tower showing winding engines, with (right to left) the electric motor, gearbox and cable drum of the 1 B winder. Each of the two winders is equipped with 14-tonne skips and are together designed to lift 430 tonnes of coal per hour. The counterweights have rope guides.General view from top of no.2 winding tower of workshops, lamp room and office buildings, from E.Aerial view.Zipped folder containing field survey photographs taken by team A, Borders Railway ProjectGeneral view from SW, from top of no.1 winding tower of stores, covered conveyors (taking coal to coal preparation plant), mine compound, and railway sidings control room.General view down onto boilerhouse from top of No. 1 shaft winding tower from S.General view from NE of top of No. 2 winding tower of water tank containing water for fire fighting on surface and below ground. The tank is made from pressed-steel plates, and has a corrugated sheet metal roof resting on a rolled-steel angle-section frame. It is built on top of a 2.5m high brick-infilled wall.General view of fan house from West on top of No. 2 winding tower. The fanhouse contains two identical fans (one in use, one on standby), made by Mather and Platt of Manchester. Each fan provides 212.4 cubic metres of air per second at 2490 N/sqm. In cold conditions, the air can be heated using oil-fired heaters.General oblique aerial view centred on former site of colliery with railway marshalling yard in the background, taken from the SW.Aerial view.Aerial view.Aerial view.Aerial view.Aerial view.Aerial view.Aerial view.Detail of one of two Penman Cornish-type coal-fired boilers in boiler house, with Olbury chain-grate automatic stoker, fed from above by a coal elevator made by Proctor of Burnley, Lancashire.Detail on top floor of no. 1 shaft tower showing (right to left) the exciter, electronic motor, gearbox and cable drum of the 1B winder. Each of the two winders is equipped with 14-tonne skips, and are together designed to lift 430 tonnes of coal per hour. The counterweights have rope guides.Oblique aerial view centred on former site of colliery, taken from the NW.Aerial view.Aerial view.Aerial view.General view from SW, showing offices (left) and baths (right). No.2 shaft winding tower (left) and no.1 shaft winding towr (right) are in the background.View from top of no.1 winding tower, looking N, of winding tower no.2. Winding tower built of re-inforced concrete was used to wind men and materials using a tower mounted, geared, A.C. multi-rope friction winder with cage and counterweight which was manually controlled with dynamic braking.

Administrative Areas

  • Council Midlothian
  • Parish Newton
  • Former Region Lothian
  • Former District Midlothian
  • Former County Midlothian

Archaeology Notes

NT37SW 198 321 702

For adjacent Millerhill marshalling yard, see NT37SW 1127.

Glazed pit-head tower, 1953, by Egon Riss.

C McWilliam 1978.

(Location cited as NT 3219 7027). MONKTONHALL Colliery

Previous Owners: National Coal Board

Sinking Commenced: 1954

Production Commenced: 1967

Year Closed: 1997

Average Workforce: 1,618

Peak Workforce: 1,786

Peak Year: 1971

Shaft Details: 2 shafts. No. 1 shaft (upcast) 930m deep, 7.32m diameter and concrete-lined, 2 1,600hp multi-rope tower-mounted friction winders, designed to lift 420 tons of coal per hour in 2 14-ton skips. No. 2 shaft (downcast) also 7.32m diameter, concrete lined, and 920m deep, with 1 multi-rope 1,600hp tower-mounted friction winder with 2-deck cage and counterweight, carrying 2 mine cars (automatic ram loading) or 130 men.

Other Details: Designed to exploit the deep limestone coals of the Midlothian basin, it was one of the wettest pits of the National Coal Board (NCB) era, water causing major problems both during its sinking and its operation. Nevertheless, one of the successful NCB new sinkings and superpits, and the last to survive. Surface facilities included a coal preparation plant, a rapid-loading surface bunker and merry-go-round rail facility, workshops, and administration buildings as well as full baths, canteen and medical facilities. Broke productivity records in 1969. Built with the assured market of Cockenzie Power Station nearby (), but eventually mothballed in 1987, after which neighbouring Bilston Glen (NT26NE 77) closed in 1989. Re-opened as Britain's first large private mine in 1992, but run by a miners' co-operative. First coalface back in production in 1993, but lacked capital and ran into financial difficulties in August 1994, after which Waverley Mining Finance plc took increasing interest in the mine. Closed finally in 1997. First of towers demolished in November 1997, second tower in 1998.

M K Oglethorpe 2006.

Further Details

Activities

Publication Account (1997)

Scotland's most fully realised integrated deep coalmine complex. Located in the Midlothian Coalfield: a last, great survivor from a period of energentic Coal Board investment during the 1960s. From 1955, two shafts were sunk at Monktonhall, both over 3,000 feet deep, and production commenced in January 1965. The mines built in this programme, such Rothes and Killoch, were characterised by monumental concrete winding-engine towers, and concrete and brick surface buildings, all designed by Riss and his staff. They may be compared with postwar mine-building projects in the Ruhr coalfield, often of similarly colossal scale and refinement, but usually faced in brick. (Figs. 4.37, 4.38).

Information from 'Rebuilding Scotland: The Postwar Vision, 1945-75', (1997).

Further Details

Project (April 2009 - February 2015)

The Borders Railway Project proposals are to reinstate the Newcraighall to Tweedbank section of the former Waverley Line. The reinstated railway line will be approximately 48km long and the majority of the route will use the existing railway embankment.

Several field surveys, archaeological evaluations and standing building surveys were undertaken by CFA Archaeology from April 2009 until February 2015.

CFA Archaeology

Further Details

Archaeological Evaluation (19 February 2024 - 23 August 2024)

NT 32101 70362 An archaeological evaluation was undertaken. A section of railway track set within a concrete surface as well as remains of a car park and raised planters associated with the late 20th century iteration of the Monktohall Colliery was recorded.

Information from L. Dunbar - AOC Archaeology Group, 2024.

OASIS ID: aocarcha1-523085

Further Details

References

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