Scottish shale Scottish shale

Boghall No.1 pit

Parish:
Bathgate, Linlithgowshire
Local authority:
West Lothian
Ownership:
E. Meldrum & Co.
Uphall Mineral Oil Co. Ltd.
Seams worked:
Barracks Shale, Fells Shale
Opened:
1867
Closed:
Probably abandoned during 1880's, certainly before 1895
Current status of site:
Site of the mine is now within agricultural land, visible as an area of rough ground
Regional overview:
Mines in the Seafield, Cousland, and Boghall area

boghallno1pit.jpg

A vertical shaft 36 fathoms deep

Serving Boghall (Starlaw) Shale Oil Works

The first of a number of pits supplying shale to the Boghall (Starlaw) Shale Oil Works that operated between 1868 and 1882. It seems probable that Boghall No. 1 Pit was "Starlaw Pit", scene of the Starlaw disaster, one of the shale oil industry's most tragic accidents.

Boghall No. 1 Pit exploited the Fells Shale; it seems possible that the shaft also accessed the Barracks Shale by means of a cross cut mine; this detail is unclear on mining plans.

See "Early mines and pits in the Boghall area" for further background.

Shale-field: Cousland and Seafield shale-field.

Mapped by the Ordnance Survey of c.1897, showing site of No. 1 Pit as "old shaft".

  • Location & workings at Boghall No.1 pit

      • Show seams:

  • Detailed maps
  • External references

      • The Coal Authority mine abandonment catalogue list the following shale workings from Boghall:

      • Coal Authority Mine Abandonment Catalogue No. 164, showing workings in the Houston Coal and Fells Shale from Boghall, abandoned in 1874.
      • Coal Authority Mine Abandonment Catalogue No. S2524, showing workings in the Houston Coal (1870), Dunnet (1900), under Dunnet (1900), Fells (1898) and unknown shale (1870) from Boghall, abandoned in various years.
      • Coal Authority Mine Abandonment Catalogue No. 3730, showing workings in the Houston Coal (1873) and Fells Shale (1880) and Raeburn shale (1870) from Boghall, abandoned in various years.
      • Coal Authority Mine Abandonment Catalogue No. 650, showing workings in the Fells Shale from Boghall No. 4, abandoned in 1871.

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