Fraser pit

Parish:

West Calder, Midlothian

Local authority:

West Lothian

Seams worked:

Fraser Shale

Opened:

1940

Closed:

1951

Current status of site:

Site landscaped and now woodland

Regional overview:

Mines in the Hermand and Hartwood area

Vertical shaft, 411 ft deep

Serving Westwood Crude Oil Works

One of a number of new shale workings begun immediately prior to World War Two, and the last shale pit to be sunk. Sited close to Baads No. 42 coal mine. The Fraser mine and bing site were subject of a land renewal project during the 1990's.

Shale-field: West Calder district.

Mapped by the Ordnance Survey of c.1958, showing some surviving surface buildings from the closed Fraser Pit.

Location map

Detailed maps

Fraser Pit - 25" OS map c.1897, courtesy National Library of Scotland

Fraser Pit - Aerial Photo, late 1940's, courtesy National Library of Scotland

Fraser Pit - 1:2,500 OS map c.1958, courtesy National Library of Scotland

Fraser Pit - Aerial, courtesy National Library of Scotland

Drawings

From "Sections of Shale Seams", a notebook by Robert Crichton. BP Archive 183734

Production statistics from 1920.

Archive images

Fraser Pit under construction: November 1939.

Fraser Pit under construction: November 1939.

Fraser Pit under construction: November 1939 - Winding House.

Fraser Pit under construction: View from coal mine bing, February 1940.

Fraser Pit under construction: Head gear, February 1940.

Fraser Pit under construction: Structure head gear, February 1940.

Fraser Pit under construction: General view from south, February 1940.

Fraser Pit under construction: Fan house, February 1940.

Fraser Pit under construction: Fan assembly, August 1940.

Fraser Pit under construction: Cage, August 1940.

Recent images

View from site of Baads No. 42 Coal Mine (with surviving building), towards site of Fraser Pit, marked by the trees. Looking south. May 2012.

View from site of Baads No. 42 Coal Mine towards site of Fraser Pit, marked by the trees to the left of shot. Looking south. May 2012.

Telephoto view towards the site of Fraser pit. Looking south. May 2012.

External references

Coal Authority Mine Abandonment Catalogue No. 15097, showing workings in the Fraser Shale from Fraser Pit, abandoned in 1951.

Additional records

Oral history transcript: Mr A Balloch
Oral history transcript: Mr Richard Blake
Oral history transcript: Mr James Brown
Oral history transcript: Mr John Crombie