Glenshanna Burn, Louisa Mine

'Louisa Mine', Glenshanna Burn NY 312 966 NY39NW (M)2

There are extensive remains of this antimony-mine on both banks of the Glenshanna Burn 1.5km ESE of Glendinning farmhouse. There are also a trial-adit and what are probably the remains of a smelting-works in the valley of the Meggat Water (at NY 300 957 and NY 299 970 respectively), but nothing can now be seen of the mining village noted at Jamestown in 1794. The mine and smelting-works were opened by Sir James Johnstone of Westerhall in 1793 but closed after five years; the mine alone was worked from 1888-1891 and from 1919 to 1922.

RCAHMS 1980, visited August 1980

(McCracken 1965)

NY39NW 10 3066 9693 to 3146 9660

Mining remains extend for a distance of 1km along the banks of the Glenshanna Burn, and are all probably associated with the extraction of antimony. The remains include the Glendinning Antimony Mine, also known as the Louisa Mine, together with three possible drift mines, several small bell-pits and two large rectangular platforms or building stances.

The discovery of antimony at Glendinning was the result of many years of prospection by Sir James Johnstone of Westerhall, and although there is some dispute as to the date of discovery, given variously as 1760 or 1788, all sources agree that mining operations first began in 1793. The Louisa Mine lies near the head of the Glenshanna Burn, and was mined on three separate occasions: from 1793 to 1798, 1888 to 1891 and 1919 to 1922.

The earliest phase of extraction is the best documented, and a section published on Crawford's minerealogical map of Dumfriesshire at the beginning of the 19th century probably dates to this period. This section shows that the mine was worked on three main levels, entered either at the level of the Glenshanna Burn or by a drift driven into the hillside, while three vertical shafts, probably for ventilation, may have provided additional access routes. Also dating to this period but lying some 1.5km to the W, there are the remains of the smelting plant where the ore was processed, and a row of miners' cottages which were known as Jamestown and were still roofed when the 2nd edition of the OS 6-inch map (Dumfriesshire, sheet xxvi, 1900) was published.

The visible remains of the Louisa Mine probably all belong to the final phase of extraction. A drift mine is situated on the hillside and is entered by an impressive rock-cut passage which is still accessible for a short distance (NY 3131 9666). Immediately below the passage, there is a large mound of spoil which has been removed from the mine. A short distance downhill a deep weathering cone marks the position of a vertical shaft, and the fan-like impression of the surrounding spoil dump is suggestive of barrow-runs (NY 3127 9659). The stumps of concrete that stand adjacent to the mouth of the shaft are all that now remain of the machinery stances where engines once stood. A track leads directly into this area, and this overlies an earlier connection into the shaft. Although no processing of the ore took place on site during the final phase, there are three ponds or reservoirs located nearby: one lies immediately to the W of the shaft, at the foot of the spoil dump, and may be associated with the initial washing of the ore; the other two lie to the E, and appear to be related to a drain or water-filled channel. Of these two, one straddles the drain, while the other has an inlet from the drain on the NE, and an outflow back into the drain on the SW.

Along the gully of the burn, several channels and quarry scoops have been dug. One channel, driven obliquely into the N side of the gully, may indicate the position of a drainage level or adit, but the rest may be little more than attempts to locate the ore. On the S side of the burn, some 70m to the SSE of the vertical shaft, a platform has been formed, and samples of ore and smelting debris are visible. The only standing structure to survive is also situated on the S side of the burn, a short distance downstream from the adit; this is the small brick-built explosives store for the mine (NY 3104 9667). It is still roofed and has been built on the levelled spoil heap of a small quarry which extends into the slope. About 15m to the NW, a sheet of corrugated metal conceals the mouth of a crudely-cut shaft.

Elsewhere along the banks of the Glenshanna Burn, there is evidence for further mining activity. A scatter of small bell-pits mark the upper limits of this activity, and may be amongst the earliest sinkings in the area, or alternatively the remains of trial pits (NY 3105 9659, NY 3124 9653, NY 3146 9660). Further downstream, three possible drift mines are situated on the S side of the burn (NY 3066 9693, NY 3077 9690, NY 3081 9687). These have been driven into the hillside, and the upcast spoil dumps formed on the downslope side. Given the amount of spoil, it is unlikely that they are anything more than exploratory efforts to locate the ore.

One further feature is worthy of mention. On the N side of the Glenshanna Burn, above the track, two large subrectangular platforms have been levelled into the hillside (NY 310 969). Both appear to have water channels diverted around them, and both contain traces of rectangular structures. The function of the structures is uncertain, being either domestic or industrial, but they are undoubtedly connected with the mining remains.

Visited by RCAHMS (ARW, SPH, JRS), 16 June 1993.

(Stat Acct 1794; A McCracken 1965; RCAHMS 1980; SRO, GD 224/388/9/1).

Glenshanna Burn. Listed as antimony mine.

RCAHMS 1997.

RCAHMS surveyed Glenshanna Burn antimony mine on 16 June 1993 with plane-table and self-reducing alidade at a scale of 1:500. This plan was redrawn in ink for publication at a scale of 1:1000 (RCAHMS 1997, Fig. 299).