Pits No. 2 and No. 3 of…

Pits No. 2 and No. 3 of William Dixon's Blantyre Colliery is the site of the Blantyre mining disaster of October 22, 1877, where two hundred and seven miners (men and boys) are killed when a coal mine explodes due to methane gas.

It was known that fire damp was present in the pit and it is likely that this was ignited by a naked flame.

The accident, which is and remains Scotland’s worst mining disaster, leaves ninety-two widows and two hundred and fifty fatherless children.

There is little doubt that safety regulations were not followed.

Repeated prior complaints about the working conditions at High Blantyre had been ignored.

A year earlier, some Blantyre miners had been so fearful for their safety in the mines that, when Dixon's refused them a wage rise to compensate, they went on strike; they had immediately been sacked.