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Inverarish Ironstone Mine [1]

Raasay, NW of Glen Lodge, Invernessshire.

A vast, loosely grid patterned mine last worked in 1918. Two entrances are accessible but great care should be exercised as it would be very easy to lose direction and become lost in intricate workings. There are other small workings at NGR NG 580 378. [rhychydwr1, 2014, ukcaving.com]

The massive iron deposits were discovered during surveys carried out before the Great War. During the 1914-18 war they were worked by Baird Ltd who mined 140,000 tons underground and 12,000 tons opencast. The mine was entered by the main adit at 330 feet above sea level. From here the ore was lowered down an incline for 1¼ miles to a 4,000 ton ore bin, where it was taken by steamer to Glasgow for smelting. The mine closed in 1919 and in 1941 all available scrap metal was recovered for armaments. The headings were 12 feet wide by 8 feet wide and until recently one was still open. [Industrial Heritage]

Raasay iron mine installations at Suisnish and the scrap iron and remaining ore being taken away from the mine workings to be used in the war effort. Annie MacLean was born in Raasay in 1928 and raised on a croft near the pier. The family moved to Inverarish in 1939. She was the only girl in the family and had an older brother in the Royal Artillery and another in the Driver's Corps. After her mother died Annie remained at home on Raasay and has many recollections of the changes that occurred there during the war. "They were taking away the scrap iron. See, the kilns there, they were iron kilns and all this iron. And the railway going up to the mine. And they even took away the rails the bogies were running on. They took away all the scrap iron. That was a power house and engines and that, they took all that away. And I remember when they were taking away the scrap iron. I still remember the noise of the wagons running through that railway which was leading onto the pier. And there was a puffer and it's the noise of them putting the scrap iron and all that onto the puffer. Terrible noise! When the mines stopped, the bogies were still lying along with the ore in them. And they took that away first. They emptied all those iron bogies they had and they took that away, and then took all the scrap iron." ... "Originally, a rail line terminated at a calcinating or crushing plant at Suisnish; this was connected to the pierhead by conveyor which transported the ore to a series of hoppers or bunkers located at the pierhead. The mine was worked up until the end of the First World War after which iron-ore production ceased. Although everything was maintained in full working order, almost the only iron to be extracted in the Second World War was scrap from the dismantled installation itself." [Annie MacLean, 2009, UKcaving.com/Museum of the Isles Highland Council Archive Service]

The site comprises the remains of an ironstone mine and processing complex established by William Baird and Co. of Coatbridge and in operation during the First World War. The mine is located in the southwest area of the Isle of Raasay on a series of south-facing slopes, from 210m above sea level in the north down to 20m above sea level at the coast.

The mine consists of a number of inter-related elements. In the north are two mines. Mine no. 1, with an entrance centered at NG 5648 3653, extends underground for 320m to the northeast in a network of around 8 km of tunnels in grid formation and covering an area around 0.1121 square kilometers. The remains of a building housing ventilation equipment are located on the surface around 280m northeast of the mine entrance. The remains of the main hauler house are located 60m west-southwest of the mine entrance and a compressor house is a further 20m to the south-southwest, with a weighbridge and checkers' office to its east. An explosives magazine is located 70m to the northwest of the entrance. A disused inclined railway runs east for around 480m to an area of removed ore outcrop marked by a linear spoil heap measuring around 500m northeast-southwest. The remains of a narrow gauge railway, now dismantled and visible as a raised track bed, runs from the mine south-southwest for around 2.5 km to the harbour. This section of railway was carried on an iron viaduct over Inverarish Burn at NG 5618 3585 and also on a bridge across the road at NG 5643 3650.

The Raasay Miner's Strike began Thursday 4th December 1917. In May 1911 William Baird & Co Ltd bought island from the Wood family, the previous owner of the estate. The mine was ready in the summer of 1914, yet soon lay idle due to the lack of man-power from men called up to the war. Out of 36 local Raasay men called to the colours, 22 were killed. To compensate for this, Bairds' demanded 260 German prisoners of war from the Ministry of Munitions to act as labour for the mine. These were delivered somewhat reticently in the summer of 1916, in breach of the Hague Convention [Not necessarily, although it is probable. It was against the spirit of the convention if not the absolute letter of the law]. Almost immediately the Government took on legal ownership of the mine and employed Baird's as a private contractor, due to the perceived political complications of having a private provider employ Prisoners of War. Baird's records indicate that sixty British men, along with thirty local men, were employed by the mine, along with the 260 POWs. The prisoners were paid by Bairds' in a far smaller amount than the one agreed by the government. The only recorded wages are those of the POWs. The lack of detail on the pay and conditions of the locally employed men is possibly testament to their undervalued and peripheral position in the mine. It may also indicate that they were paid informally on a local contract, with Baird's finding no reason to alert the government of its terms. Labour unrest built from February 1917 onwards. In February the Labour Department awarded Cumberland miners an increase in wages from 7s-6d to 9s-6d per shift and war bonus of 5s-0d per week. There was no record for this for the Raasay men. It is recorded that two mainland miners claimed their wages were adequate, and that their wages were twice those paid to the islanders who gave evidence. The German prisoners were not strike breakers, they simply continued doing the jobs they previously did (although with the flexible roles at the time some may have filled critical posts vacated by the strikers). The strike officially ended on 15th January 1918. 10-20 of the striking workers may have obtained some pay increases. [Myers]

There were three mines. No. 1 and 2 were traditional stoop and room (pillar and stall) mines worked from a main gallery. No. 1 is very extensive, the passages totaling some five miles in length. From here limestone was mined as well as iron ore. No. 2 mine was not successful and was abandoned at an early stage. No. 3 mine was an open cut working, the remains of which can be seen to the left of the Fearns Road uphill from No. 1 mine buildings. There are three entrances to No. 1 mine [NG 56480 36530]. One is located inside the ruined Fan House building on the hillside above the main entrance. The other two are as shown on the area map (see Salvona, 2009). The entrances to No. 2 mine of which there are two appear to have collapsed or been deliberately brought in the position of this mine [centered NG 55820 36290] is indicated by the angle of the viaduct which crosses the road a short distance uphill from the village. The ore from all three mines was taken by a small gauge railway to the large hoppers which can be seen on the hillside above the ferry terminal. [Salvona, 2009]

Alternative Names: Mine 1

Notes: The monument was first scheduled in 1997 and is being rescheduled to amend the scheduled area and update the associated documentation.

The use of German Prisoners of War to mine Iron on Raasay would today be considered a war crime. However , the International Treaty on the treatment of Prisoners of War, the 3rd Geneva Convention was only introduced in 1949. Prior to this the employment of prisoners of war in industry was legal and therefore not a war crime [right or wrong was for the individual to decide but as long as the activity was not was related and was considered safe, it was not legally a crime, c. 1918]. It has been argued that mining iron was war-related and not necessarily safe but those terms were not agreed until 1929. Conversely, mining is a necessary job carried out in times of peace and war. If the terms of the Hague Convention of 1909 were met, i.e. it was not forced labour, it was paid at agreed rates and the work was appropriate to rank, then it was considered legal.

Hydrographic Feeds: None

Hydrographic Resurgences: None