Maps of the deep coal mines which lay at the heart of a host of 'lost villages' in East Ayrshire are among almost 5,000 now available on the research website ScotlandsPeople.
National Records of Scotland (NRS) has published plans of 4,865 historic coal mines and their surrounding areas which are free to search and view.
Created between 1955 and 1989 for the Colliery Board, the plans show almost all the coal mines ever excavated in Scotland, mostly concentrated in the central belt.
Many mines operated within living memory, while others date back as far as the 16th century.
Among the maps is one showing the pit at the lost village of Commondyke, near Auchinleck, a settlement which was once home to more than 1,000 people.
Others include Glenbuck, Knockshinnoch, Barony Colliery and Kames Colliery.
Maps of mines at the original Glenbuck village are among them, as is the mine at Benquhat (or Benwhat), in the hills above Dalmellington and Patna, where little now remains beyond a few foundation stones and the village’s war memorial.
All the maps are now the property of the Coal Authority, which owns the vast majority of unworked coal and former coal mines across Great Britain and was established seven years after the dissolution of the National Coal Board.
The plans were created following the passing of The Mines and Quarries Act 1954.
This required mining managers to keep accurate plans of abandoned and active workings in the mine, as well as all other workings within the boundaries of the mine or within a prescribed distance of the mine.
Additionally, sections of the seams or veins of working coal and their overlaying strata were sometimes included.
NRS archivist Ravana Eagleheart said: “These Colliery Board plans are just the latest addition to ScotlandsPeople as we make more of our archive available to people to see anywhere and at any time.
“They will be of great interest to researchers investigating coal mining history, to former mine workers and to people living in these areas of Scotland.
“They show the extent of underground workings for both abandoned mines and those still in use at the time the maps were made.”
The last two East Ayrshire deep mines to close were Killoch in 1987 and neighbouring Barony in 1989.
Find out more information at scotlandspeople.gov.uk.
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