Scottish shale Scottish shale

Polbeth No. 31 mine

Parish:
West Calder, Midlothian
Local authority:
West Lothian
Seams worked:
Dunnet Shale
Opened:
c.1891?
Closed:
1892
Current status of site:
Agricultural land; no surviving remains of surface features
Regional overview:

polbeth31pit1.jpg

Vertical shaft, 146 ft. deep

Serving Addiewell Chemical Works

A shaft to the Dunnet Shale, seemingly worked in association with the nearby Limefield No. 32 Mine.

Shale-field: Polbeth and Gavieside shale-field.

Mapped by the Ordnance Survey of c.1895, seeming to show the shaft, headgear and winding engine house, but no other structures; suggesting use for service and emergency purposes rather than winding shale.

  • Location & workings at Polbeth No.31 mine
    • Show seams:

  • Detailed maps
  • Recent images

  • Newspaper references
    • YOUNG'S PARAFFIN LIGHT AND MINERAL OIL COMPANY (LIMITED).

      CERTIFICATED OVERSMEN WANTED to take charge of this Company's new mine openings - viz., (1) at No.11 pit, Polbeth; (2) at No. 27 Mine, Polbeth; (3) at No.31 pit Polbeth. Applications to be made by letter to the undersigned on or before Monday 23rd instant. JOHN FYFE, Managing Director.

      Scotsman, 13th November 1891


  • External references
    • Coal Authority Mine Abandonment Catalogue No. 2834, showing workings in the Dunnet Shale from Polbeth No. 31 and Limefield No. 32, abandoned in 1892.