Archaeology Notes

Event ID 655785

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/655785

NT36SW 42.01 3391 6142

ARNISTON Colliery (GORE PIT)

Location: Gorebridge

Previous Owners: Arniston Coal Company

Types of Coal: Gas, House and Steam

Sinking/Production Commenced: 1858

Year Closed: 1962

Average Workforce: 980

Peak Workforce: 990

Peak Year: 1951

Shaft/Mine Details: 2 shafts, Emily (NT36SW 42.00) and Gore (NT36SW 42.01). Gore 214m deep, sunk 1878.

Details in 1948: Output 950 tons per day, 237,500 tons per annum. 964 employees. Norton washer [equipment for the wet cleaning of coal]. Baths, first-aid room, canteen. Electricity from SE Scotland Electricity Board. Report dated 15-07-1948.

Other Details: Arniston Coal Company was established in 1874, and Gore was its first pit, having a rectangular brick-lined shaft 213m deep, completed in 1878. The two pits (Emily and Gore) were subsequently known as Arniston Colliery. Sixty six men died in a fire in 1899. One of the most famous features of the pit was the circular pithead baths at Gore, designed by J A Dempster, completed at a cost of £12,000 in 1936, with facilities for 570 men, including 52 shower cubicles. A re-organsisation was planned for the pit in 1948.

M K Oglethorpe 2006.