Archaeology Notes

Event ID 855367

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/855367

NS99SE 5 9782 9002

CASTLEHILL MINE

Location: nr. Culross

Previous Owners: National Coal Board

Types of Coal: Upper Hirst

Sinking Commenced: 1965

Production Commenced: 1969

Closed: 1990

Average Workforce: 749

Peak Workforce: 770

Peak Year: 1972

Shaft/Mine Details: Part of the Longannet complex, for which it was the main ventilation unit and second egress. 2 surface mines, each 4.88m by 3.66m, approximately 1,600m long at an incline of 1 in 4.

Other Details: Production dedicated to Longannet Power Station [NS98NE 40], to which it was linked underground via Longannet Mine [NS98NW 65]. Operated as single unit with Castlebridge [NS99SW 41] from September 1986. By 1998, ventilation and access only. The Longannet complex closed in 2002 following the failure of an underground dam.

The Longannet Complex (NS 945 863) commenced production in 1969, closing in 2002. Mining the Upper Hirst coal, it comprised Bogside [NS98NE 193], Castlebridge [NS99SW 41], Castlehill [NS99SE 5], Solsgirth [NS99SE 6] and Longannet Mine [NS98NW 65] collieries, directly serving Longannet Power Station and designed to supply 10,160 tons of coal per day. The 8.8km tunnel between Solsgirth and Longannet contained what was claimed to be the longest underground conveyor belt in the world at the time. It was described as a blueprint for modern mining, and many aspects of the development were duplicated elsewhere in the UK (e.g. Selby), and overseas. Despite geological problems, its miners regularly broke productivity records for output from single faces. The last deep coal mine in Scotland, it closed after a catastrophic flood in April 2002.

M K Oglethorpe 2006.