Scottish shale Scottish shale

Tarbrax No.1 pit

Parish:
Carnwath, Lanarkshire
Local authority:
South Lanarkshire
Ownership:
Caledonian Mineral Oil Co. Ltd. (1889)
Caledonian Mineral Oil Co. Ltd. (1898)
Seams worked:
Fells Shale
Opened:
Prior to 1880
Closed:
1903
Current status of site:
Rough grazing. Grassed bing, subsidence at shaft site and foundations of winding house? remain
Regional overview:
Mines in the Cobbinshaw area

Tarbrax No.1 & 2 pits.jpg

Vertical shaft 16 fathoms deep

Serving Tarbrax Oil Works

It is unclear when Tarbrax No. 1 Pit was opened, but it is known that the workings served by No. 1 Pit were linked to those of Tarbrax No. 2 in 1891 and that both shafts were closed in 1903 following failure of the Caledonian Mineral Oil Company Ltd.

An earlier "Tarbrax No. 1", presumably the first pit in Tarbrax, is recorded as having been abandoned by Galloway & Company in 1878. It is unclear whether this was on the same site of the later No. 1, and whether this is the "old shaft" marked on OS maps.

Shale-field: Cobbinshaw shale-field.

Mapped by the Ordnance Survey of c.1898, following the dismantling of the tramway suggesting that the shaft was no longer used to wind shale, but was retained for ventilation and emergency access.

  • Location & workings at Tarbrax No.1 pit

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  • Detailed maps

    • Recent images

    P1000552.JPG P1000558.JPG P1000557.JPG P1060356.JPG
  • External references

      • Coal Authority Mine Abandonment Catalogue No. 2908, showing workings in the Fells Shale from Tarbrax No. 1, abandoned in 1892.
      • Coal Authority Mine Abandonment Catalogue No. 4424, showing workings in the Fells Shale from Tarbrax No. 1 and 2, abandoned in 1903.

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