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Leven Seat [Overview]

Leven Seat, Gladsmuir Hills, S of Fauldhouse, Midlothian (West Lothian).

Mines (limestone, clayband ironstone, & fireclay), Quarries (sandstone & limestone). 19th-20th Centuries.

Disused Limestone Mine (north of the summit of Leven Seat, south of Levenseat House) and Opencast Sand/Sandstone Quarry (near Drum Farm and Drum Hags). Open cast quarry used for landfill. Since 2015 the sandstone quarry is site of Levenseat Energy from Waste Recycling Plant. The Miller's Moss area surrounding the site of the Limestone Mine is now scattered with wind turbines.

A line of old quarries delineate an outcrop of limestone. Several mine entrances can be seen at Risland Knowes just west of the public right of way footpath between Levenseat and Fauldhouse. The site provides a good view to Fauldhouse and the Breich Valley to the north. Unfortunately, the Levenseat landfill site to the west of Leven Seat Hill (358m) has an adverse effect upon the character of the natural area. The site can be reached from off-road parking south of Miller's Moss on the A706. Nearby geodiversity sites are Levenseat working quarry and Longridge Moss. [West Lothian Council]

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This quarry is depicted on the current edition of the OS 1:10,000 map (1991), but is no longer being exploited. The area to the W of the track (centred around NS 943 589) is a deep sludge-lagoon, while to the E (centred around NS 944 588) there is an area of improved pasture which is also depicted on the current map and presumably represents an infilled quarry. (CSW 1644). There are no visible remains of the quarries (CSW 1643 and 1645), shafts (CSW 1646-8) and spoil heaps (CSW 1653-8) that have been noted within the area of reclaimed land. [There are other entrances to mine workings outside the area of the open cast quarry.]

The 1st edition (Edinburghshire, 1863-4, sheet xv) of the Ordnance Survey 6-inch map was surveyed in 1852-9 and notes three 'Shafts', a 'Chimney' and a 'pool' within the area of this quarry. Their associated workings were apparently served by a track (from the N) and the trackway (NS95NW 7.05) crosses the area. The 2nd edition (new series, sheet x.SE) was re-surveyed in 1893 and depicts 'Old Quarries', an 'Old Shaft' and a 'Shaft' within an area of irregular workings which extends from N to S and is crossed by the tramway NS95NW 7.05. The present quarry dates from after 1949. Air photographs of that year (541A/RAF/468 frames 4017-18, dated 26 April 1949) show only an area of rig-and-furrow cultivation (NS95NW 8) which is crossed by the main tramway system (NS95NW 7.05) and within which there are the remains of spoil tips and small-scale workings. [Canmore]

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The hills that lie to the south of the village of Fauldhouse bear the marks of over two hundred years of industry. The slopes of Levenseat hill are embossed with quarries, waste tips, and the route of tramways that record the working of a high quality limestone. Mine entrances (most now collapsed), sink-holes, and other areas of disturbance provide evidence of the network of tunnels that lie beneath the hills. A mile to the west, the lands of Muldron and the Gladsmuir hills are peppered with the waste-tips of ironstone mines, and the traces of tramways and railways that once carried away their produce. Between these two areas lie quarries, roads, a washery and much other evidence of the continuing extraction of the soft silica-rich sandstone. It's hard to untangle the complex landscape of bumps and hollows that reflect overlapping patterns of mineral extraction over a long period of history, and little evidence survives of the homes and shops of a thriving community that once existed on this wet hillside to serve these industries.

The landscape continues to be re-shaped with haulage roads, storage heaps, settling ponds and the other necessities of modern quarrying. Old quarry areas have also been re-modelled as a secluded base for waste recycling, and this busy landscape further embellished by a productive crop of wind turbines and a web of service roads. After about a hundred years of activity, ironstone mining and most working of limestone came to an end during first decade of the 20th century. It seems that at about that time, J.&T. Thornton, proprietors of the Levenseat limeworks (and part of a dynasty of coal and oil-masters), began quarrying the sandstone to produce silver sand. An account of 1918 reported that several quarries were then in operation, working a 30 foot seam of sandstone that lay just below the surface of the moor. This soft stone was easily crushed down into a fine silver sand, composed mainly of silica. Many glassworks in the east of Scotland used the Levenseat sand for production of green glass bottles. The sand was also well suited for production of refractory bricks and cement, especially those used in the lining of acid steel furnaces. The works were acquired in 1935 by the Sheffield-based General Refractories Ltd, who constructed a new sand washing plant and fully modernised operations. An inclined railway was built to link the quarry and the washing plant, and a more level line constructed crossing this route; running west from the LMS railway sidings to a quarry and a mine - perhaps working fireclay, This 2' 0" gauge railway was operated by small diesel locomotives, and continued until about 1963. [The route of this narrow-gauge railway provides one of the clearest set of remains in the landscape, with various tumble down structures and cut-off lengths of steelwork surviving around the mine site at its western terminus.

It seems that the mine remained in operation well into the 1960's, after the railway had been dismantled. After more than a century of production, the exceptional qualities of Levenseat sand continue to be valued. Nowadays much of the silica sand produced by Aggregate Industries fill the bunkers of golf courses, or add body to specialist top dressings used on sports grounds, stadia, and football pitches. It's good to think that a little bit of West Lothian plays such a useful role in so many major sporting events ! [Levenseat Landscapes]

Sandstone Quarry is one of at least four large open cast quarries in a line running north from Leven Seat to Fauldhouse [Google Earth].

Alternative Names: Levenseat Mine, Levenseat High Mine, Levenseat Limestone Mine, Leavenseat Mine, Levenseat Fireclay Mine, Handaxwood

Notes: The generic coordinates given are for the summit of Leven Seat (hill). There is no mine entrance / shaft at this location.

The entrance to the Leven Seat (High) Mine is/was located at NS 9418 5788. At least 4 other entrances to the Limestone Mine and several shafts and shakeholes have been identified:

NS 94862 57724, NS 94857 57707, NS 94708 57685, NS 94722 57719, NS 94686 57772, NS 94672 57794, NS 94658 57817, NS 94661 57825, NS 94661 57825, NS 94246 58130, NS 94302 58542 [investigation need to confirm descriptions and status].

Agent: W. Henderson. Peter Mitchell and Sons, Fauldhouse, Linlithgow.

Levenseat Quarry, parish of West Calder, rented by Mr. Cunningham [[c. 1837]). The rock is worked entirely by mining; the principal bed is 7 or 8 feet thick; dip NE., inclination 20 degrees; the main passage is about 250 yards in length and 8 to 10 in beadth, with occcasional chambers or cross passages, 12 to 15 feet wide, intermediate blocks or wards being left to support the roof, which are again cut out as the space around is piled up with waste. The roof is sandstone and shale, with nodules of ironstone; about 2 feet of the bottom rock, which rests on shale, is left as a cart-way, and taken up as the course is shifted. Ten men, at 11s. per week, and three horses are employed; coal costs 4s 9d per ton; 10 tons of coal are allowed to 100 bolls of lime. Annual sale 12,000 bolls, at 2s. 6d. corn measure (nearly bushels). Limestone Quarries of Scotland. [Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland/Levenseat quarry limestone mines]

Gazeteer for Scotland: A summit in the extreme SW of West Lothian, Leven Seat is the highest of the Gladsmuir Hills, rising to 356m (1167 feet) 1½ miles (2.5 km) north of Wilsontown and 2 miles (3 km) south southeast of Fauldhouse. The hill is much denuded by the extraction of iron-stone and limestone used in the Wilsontown Ironworks. Levenseat Quarry still extracts high-quality silica sand used for water filtration, in foundries and other specialist uses. A statue of a Buddha now rest on the triangulation pillar which marks the top of the hill.

See also, Levenseat Klostoph Buddha and Whiskey Well (aka Levenseat Well).