Scottish shale Scottish shale

Stewartfield No.3 pit

Parish:
Uphall, Linlithgowshire
Local authority:
West Lothian
Seams worked:
Broxburn Shale
Opened:
Pre-1897
Closed:
1914?
Current status of site:
Within housing estate
Regional overview:

stewartfield3pit.jpg

Vertical shaft; 13 fathoms deep

Serving Broxburn Oil Works

The history of the shale workings in the Stewartfield area is unclear. It appears that Stewartfield No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 Pits were early, shallow shafts that were ultimately linked up underground. Stewartfield No. 1 and No. 2 mines were subsequently developed, following the seam of Broxburn Shale from its outcrop close to Broxburn Oil Works, linking existing workings, and providing access to the most distant reserves.

The 1897 OS map shows only an engine house and shaft, rather that all the surface features of a shale pit, suggesting that was used at that time only for emergency and service purposes; linked to the workings of Stewartfield No. 2 Mine?

Shale-field: Broxburn district.

Mapped by the Ordnance Survey of c.1897, showing only the engine house and shaft.

  • Location & workings at Stewartfield No.3 pit
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  • Detailed maps
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  • External references
    • Coal Authority Mine Abandonment Catalogue No. 6303, showing workings in the Broxburn and Curly Shales from "Stewartfield No. 2, 3 and 4", abandoned in 1914.