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Crofthead No.1 Pit

Stonehead, NE of Fauldhouse, West Lothian.

Mine (Ironstone, & later coal), mid-19th Century.

"A major ironstone pit in the lands of Crofthead Stonehead. Probably sunk in the 1840's by the Coltness Iron Co. and active at the time of the 1856 OS map. The shaft was later developed (or re-opened) to reach coal reserves, and was often referred to as Stonehead colliery. The pit was served by a branch of the mineral railway that linked the Crofthead pits to the Wilsontown, Coltness and Morningside Railway. The pithead site remains as rough grazing, with a rectangle of scorched grass marking the site of the shaft, a ironstone waste bing, largely devoid of vegetation lies to the west of the shaft, while the later, greener, coal waste bing lies to the east.

The 1885 List of Mines records Crofthead No.1 as owned by the Crofthead Coal Co. Ltd. manager Wm Clelland, worked by the stoop and room method, employing 3 on the surface and 20 underground. The downcast shaft was 9' x 5' and 60 ft deep, the upcast was 6' x 3 ½' and 255 feet deep. It was a non-fiery pit ventilated by furnace" [Scottish Shale]

Alternative Names: Crofthead Iron Mine No.1, Crofthead Colliery No.1 Pit, Thornton's No.1 Pit, Stonehead No.1 Pit

Notes: Geol survey map states 69 fms (126 m) to C.SB.

Labelled on 1856 OS map as "Crofthead Iron Mine No.1".