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Gass Water
Aerial Cableway (20th Century)
Site Name Gass Water
Classification Aerial Cableway (20th Century)
Alternative Name(s) Gass Water Barytes Mine
Canmore ID 238453
Site Number NS62SW 53
NGR NS 627 233
NGR Description From NS 627 233 to NS 654 219
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/238453
- Council East Ayrshire
- Parish Auchinleck
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Cumnock And Doon Valley
- Former County Ayrshire
NS62SW 53 from NS 627 233 to NS 654 219
Headland Archaeology surveyed the remains of an aerial ropeway that formerly linked the Gass Water Barytes mine to its dressing plant prior to the commencement of opencast mining. The ropeway survives as a line of concrete pylon foundations (previously reported by CFA in 1996), which runs in a straight line for 3km SE along the N bank of the Gass Water from the dressing plant to the mine itself.
The pylons were of tripod design, and the foundations comprise three iron rods set in square cast concrete blocks. These blocks form an equilateral triangle with sides 2.65m long, and the blocks measure 0.67m square and are of variable to provide a level foundation on sloping ground. These appear to have been cast in situ and, as a result, the state of preservation is somewhat variable.
The Gass Water Baryte mine operated between 1917 and 1964 (Macgregor et al1944, Craig 1991) and was the largest single producer of barytes in Britain. The ropeway is depicted on the Ordnance Survey 1-inch Popular Edition map (Sheet 78, 1926) and 1:10,560 (1958).
Sponsor: Scottish Coal
Information from Headland Archaeology (1999) MS/899/193
