Ballachulish Slate Quarries

Overview

Once called the 'Slate Capital of Scotland', producing over half the country's domestic slate at its peak, worked continuously for over two and a half centuries before finally closing in 1955.

History

According to local tradition, itinerant quarriers travelling through the Glencoe area in 1693 spotted slate outcropping in the hills and began digging on the spot rather than continuing their journey — a story that places the quarry's opening within a year of the nearby Massacre of Glencoe. Ballachulish grew into the dominant force in the Scottish slate trade, at its turn-of-the-century peak producing more than half of all domestically quarried slate in Scotland and employing up to 300 men at any one time; 1845 alone saw around 26 million slates produced. The workforce endured two prolonged and bitter labour disputes in the early 1900s: an 18-month lockout beginning in 1902, triggered by the sudden dismissal of the quarry doctor and demands for safer conditions and fairer treatment at the company store, and a second dispute in 1905 lasting until 1907 over the same underlying grievances. The Scottish slate trade collapsed in the 20th century in the face of cheaper Welsh competition and changing roofing materials, and Ballachulish's last two quarries closed in 1955.

Geology

Ballachulish slate is a metamorphic rock formed from Dalradian-age mudstones, valued for splitting cleanly into durable, weather-resistant roofing slates.

Workings

Slate was worked from open quarry faces cut into the hillside, split and dressed by hand on site before export, initially by sea and later increasingly by rail and road.

Closure

The quarries closed in 1955 as the Scottish slate industry as a whole collapsed under competition from cheaper Welsh slate and alternative roofing materials.

What remains

The former East Quarry is preserved and managed by Highland Council in partnership with the local community as a heritage and geology site open to visitors.

A large open quarry void survives at the East Quarry, along with waste tips and interpretive trails explaining the site's history and geology.

Abandoned workings can be dangerous — unstable ground, uncapped shafts, flooding and bad air are common even where a site looks safe from the surface. This entry describes history and general location only; it is not an access guide.

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• Tradition holds the quarry was discovered in 1693 by travelling quarriers who spotted slate in the hills and began digging rather than continuing their journey. ^1,2
• At its peak Ballachulish produced over half of all domestic slate quarried in Scotland, employing up to 300 men; in 1845 alone some 26 million slates were produced. ^1,2
• An 18-month lockout began in 1902 after the quarry doctor was dismissed, with workers demanding his reinstatement, safer conditions and fairer treatment; a second dispute over the same issues ran from 1905 to 1907. ¹
• The last two Ballachulish slate quarries closed in 1955, ending over 260 years of continuous working. ^2,3

Images

Sources

1. (secondary) The Story of the Ballachulish Slate Quarry — Glencoe Folk Museum
2. (secondary) Ballachulish Slate Quarries — Undiscovered Scotland
3. (secondary) Ballachulish Community Council, Shinty Club & Quarry — Ballachulish Community Council

Record created: 21 August 2026 · Last researched: 21 August 2026