Cannel is an unusual form of coal that burns with a brilliant flame if thrown into an open fire; lighting up a room as if by candlelight. Cannel was in great demand in the early days of the gas industry where it was added to cheaper common coal to boost the calorific value of town gas. It was also used for oil production during the 1850’s and 60’s. Good quality cannel coal was a rarity, and seams were narrow, typically no more than two feet thick and often thinning unpredictably down to no more than a few inches. Cannel might occur as a separate seam, (often associated with ironstone nodules), or as a band within wider seams of common coal.
“Scotch Cannel” was highly regarded in the gas industry, and the Lesmahago (usually spelled without the “w”) was one of the richest, most consistent, and best known types of cannel, second only to the renowned Boghead Coal that was found near Bathgate. Lesmahago Cannel was often quoted as a standard against which the merits of other gas coals were judged.
James Swann, who leased the Rigside minerals of the Earl of Home’s Douglas estate, discovered a seam of cannel coal close to the Douglas Water in about 1850 and subsequently found that this extended beneath the lands of Tower farm. An account of 1864 reported:
“Mr Swan is at present working a gas or cannel coal seam by a ten fathom pit, which lies far above the nine seams of common coal. It is sixteen inches thick, and works in large, square masses, covered with white clay, from being so near the surface. It is as good almost as first-class gas making coal; only inferior to Boghead and Lesmahago in the quantity of ash.“
It was later determined that the Rigside cannel seam (later known as the Ponfeigh Gas Coal) was equivalent to the “Wee Lesmahago” cannel seam found around Auchenheath.
Sales of Rigside cannel were initially restricted by the need to cart coal five miles to the nearest railhead, and it was not until 1863 that the Caledonian Railway’s Douglas branch was opened, allowing Rigside cannel to be dispatched directly to gasworks throughout Britain. Rigside cannel found a ready market, being generally similar to the famous Lesmahago cannel, but was sold at a lower price. Rigside cannel was regularly used at London’s major gasworks during the 1860’s and 70’s, along with Lesmahago and other Scotch cannels.
One inch OS map, c.1860 showing branch line to the cannel pits
Cannel coal was also in demand for oil manufacture using the process developed by James Paraffin Young. The opportunity to secure a low cost supply of quality cannel from Rigside was perhaps a major reason why the Exeter-based North British Oil and Candle Co. Ltd. chose to build their oil-works at Lanark. It seems however that this arrangement didn’t work out as planned; perhaps because the Rigside cannel contained much more sulphur than anticipated, imparting an unfortunate smell to the oils and candles produced from it. It was reported that the white painted doors of the Lanark oil-works were quickly turned black by the sulphurous fumes produced from the Rigside cannel.
The Rigside cannel seam was probably exhausted by the end of the 1870’s, however wide seams of common coal, that contained bands of cannel within it, continued to be worked, producing a mixed product that was much valued as a general gas coal.
From the few records that are available, it seems that the Rigside cannel was worked from pits on the north side of the Douglas Water, (which included the lands of Tower farm), and perhaps the “Black Douglas pit” marked on the first edition OS map was the 10 fathom pit previously referred to. This will have been sunk in the early 1860’s,at around the time the Caledonian Railway’s Douglas branch was built. A siding extended along a low curving embankment across the floodplain below Wolf Crooks farm then crossed the public road to Black Douglas pit. The line continued northwards, crossing the road to Coalburn to serve a further pit.
A row of ten single room dwellings, known as Wolf Crooks Rows, were built close to the Black Douglas pithead. They seem to have been of the most basic type of single-room homes and were cleared prior to the 1895 OS map. A row of four more spacious houses (known as Wolf Crooks Cottages) were built beside the road to Happendon at the same time as the rows, but seem to have survived into the 1930’s. Surprising few records have survived of this little community.
Today, the low curving railway embankment still makes its mark on the landscape, and the faint outline of the rows can just be made out in the irregularities of the land surface. Very little else has survived as a reminder of a short-lived mining enterprise that once supplied gas works throughout Britain.
The curved embankment, looking towards the Caledonian Railway, Wolf Crookes Bridge, looking towards site of Black Douglas pit, and plaque on the bridge.
Robin Chesters, 7th February 2025
Unless otherwise stated, all text, images, and other media content are protected under copyright. If you wish to share any content featured on Clydesdale's Heritage, please get in touch to request permission.
