Raasay, No.1 Mine
Ironstone Mine (Period Unassigned)
Site Name Raasay, No.1 Mine
Classification Ironstone Mine (Period Unassigned)
Alternative Name(s) Inverarish Mine
Canmore ID 11465
Site Number NG53NE 8
NGR NG 5649 3652
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/11465
- Council Highland
- Parish Portree
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Skye And Lochalsh
- Former County Inverness-shire
East Suisnish (Suidhisinish)
Remains of ironstone mine works by William Baird and Co of Coatbridge, who owned Raasay and Rona from 1911 -23 and produced thousands of tonnes of raw ore here during the Great War, using German POWs for labour. Several km of narrow gauge light railway transported ore from the hill to a new concrete-piled pier at Suisnish (R. McAlpine & Sons, 1913 ), which, along with a crusher and ore hopper, five kilns and a generator, represented the height of technology at the time. By 1920 the mine had ceased operation, leaving Raasay the assets of a solid pier, several miles of road and some good quality housing. The plant was not dismantled until 1943 .
Taken from "Western Seaboard: An Illustrated Architectural Guide", by Mary Miers, 2008. Published by the Rutland Press http://www.rias.org.uk
NG53NE 8 5649 3652
See also NG53NE 9, NG53NE 13, NG53NE 14, NG53NE 16 and NG53SE 3 and NG53SE 7.
For (associated) workers' housing (centred NG 55556 35716), see NG53NE 10.
For (associated) Inverarish Cottages (foremen's housing and manager's house: centred NG 55635 35960), see NG53NE 12.
Developed 1913 on by William Baird & Co Ltd. The main working was a drift mine running through a hill, linked to the pier at Suisnish by a railway. There are ruins of concrete surface buildings, (NG 53NE14) and the track of the railway (NG53NE 9) can still be seen. The incline to another drift can also be traced.
J R Hume 1977.
Scheduled (with NG53NE 9, NG53NE 13, NG53NE 14, NG53NE 16 and NG53SE 3 and NG53SE 7 ) as 'inverarish, iron ore mine, kilns and associated remains... the remains of an ironstone mine and processing complex established by William Baird and Co of Coatbridge and in operation during the First World War.'
Information from Historic Scotland, scheduling document dated 31 March 2011.
Publication Account (2009)
The website text produced for Raasay webpages on the Forest Heritage Scotland website (www.forestheritagescotland.com).
Introduction: The isle of iron
In May 1911 William Baird and Co Ltd, ironmasters of Coatbridge bought the Isle of Raasay Estate to mine for iron ore. In 1914 the First World War broke out, just as the mine was ready to go into full production.
On the small island of Raasay thirty-six men were called to fight for their country, leaving no one to work the mine. The mine was as good as shut down before it even started.
By 1916 the German submarine campaign was preventing iron ore getting to Britain from abroad. Iron and steel were desperately needed for the war effort. The government took over the mine, with Baird & Co still running it as agents. German Prisoners of War (PoWs) were brought to the island as the workforce for the mine.
Between 1911 and 1914 Baird & Co set up the mine on the south end of the island; the remains of which you can still walk around today.
When arriving on Raasay, from Skye, you step onto the pier built in 1912 by Robert McAlpine & Sons. The pier allowed the iron ore to be easily shipped to Skye and then on to the mainland. Traces of a dismantled tramway run north from the pier; once used to transport iron ore from the mines. The railway leads to the abandoned mines, at the edge of Raasay Forest.
People Story: When enemies became friends
When Baird & Co built the Inverarish Terraces and Cottages for their workforce in 1912 they could not have envisioned that they would be used to house German PoWs.
Inverarish Terraces were adapted to be a prison by enclosing them in barbed wire fencing. The army officers, led by Captain K. G. MacLeod and charged with guarding the prisoners, stayed at Inverarish Cottages.
Despite the war, relationships between the prisoners and the islanders were good. Dr Sorley MacLean, renowned Gaelic writer, recalls as a young lad being invited to join a prisoner on a trip on the farm cart.
The prisoners were given small rations, so islanders and workers provided them with a little extra. Alex Fisher would sneak in an extra "piece", a sandwich, each day to give to a prisoner. Many prisoners made wooden toys for the local children.
The head Mining Engineer, David Munro, was highly respected by the islanders. He was gifted a beautifully made small table, inlaid with hardwood, by the PoWs suggesting that they had a similar opinion.
Munro's daughter remembers concerts at their house, where a talented PoW would play the violin.
Stories of escapes are few and none were successful. Sadly just as the war ended several of the prisoners died of illness and are buried on the island.
