Burghlee Colliery

Overview

A Midlothian colliery at Loanhead, sunk about 1860 by the Shotts Iron Company and working house and steam coal, ironstone and fireclay from a single shaft 366 m deep with two steep inclines running to the same depth. It employed 795 at its peak in 1952 and was raising 883 tons a day in 1948. It closed in 1964, two years after Bilston Glen began production nearby, and was abandoned in 1965.

History

Burghlee was sunk about 1860 in the Midlothian coalfield at Loanhead, in the parish of Lasswade, and belonged to the Shotts Iron Company, which is reflected in what it produced: not coal alone but ironstone and fireclay too, the raw materials an ironworks wanted. Its coals were classed as house and steam. In 1948, the year after nationalisation, the colliery employed 660 and raised 883 tons a day, 220,750 tons in the year. The workforce averaged 768 over its National Coal Board years and peaked at 795 in 1952. What ended it was not exhaustion but replacement: the Board sank Bilston Glen alongside, a super-pit which began production in 1963, and within two years both Burghlee and the neighbouring Ramsay pit at Loanhead were closed. Burghlee closed in 1964 and was abandoned the following year. Bilston Glen itself lasted until 1989.

Geology

The Midlothian coalfield, a deep syncline south of Edinburgh whose measures carry workable coal with ironstone and fireclay in the same sequence. That combination is why an ironmaking company held the pit: the Shotts Iron Company could take its coal, its ore and its furnace lining from one working.

Geological setting: Sedimentary Beds and Seams (well documented example)

Workings

One shaft, 366 m deep, with two inclines driven at sixty degrees to the same depth — a steep-access arrangement rather than a second shaft. Output was 883 tons a day in 1948 with 660 employed.

Closure

Burghlee closed in 1964 and was abandoned in 1965, not because its coal was gone but because the National Coal Board had concentrated the district's output at Bilston Glen, which started production in 1963. Ramsay, the other Loanhead pit, went at the same time.

What remains

The colliery site has been cleared. Loanhead's mining is commemorated in the town by the Coghorn sculpture and by a memorial to men killed at Bilston Glen, the pit that replaced Burghlee rather than Burghlee itself.

Related mines

• Loanhead (Ramsay) Colliery — The two Loanhead pits were closed together within two years of Bilston Glen starting production in 1963; Burghlee is named on the Ramsay record.

Nearby mines

• Loanhead (Ramsay) Colliery — 0.9 km N
• Bilston Glen Colliery — 2.1 km E
• Whitehill Colliery — 2.7 km SE
• Eldin Colliery — 3.4 km E
• Woolmet Colliery — 5.6 km NE

Straight-line distance, within 15 km. Show on the map.

Recorded claims

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

• Burghlee was previously owned by the Shotts Iron Company Limited and produced house and steam coal, ironstone and fireclay; sinking and production commenced about 1860. ¹
• The colliery had one shaft 366 m deep, with two inclines driven at sixty degrees to the same depth. ¹
• In 1948 the colliery employed 660 and raised 883 tons a day, 220,750 tons in the year; the average workforce was 768 and the peak 795 in 1952. ¹
• Burghlee closed in 1964 and was abandoned in 1965; Bilston Glen had started production in 1963, and within two years both Ramsay and Burghlee were closed. ^2,1

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Burghlee Colliery, National Record of the Historic Environment 82867 — Historic Environment Scotland
2. (secondary) Loanhead — Undiscovered Scotland

Record created: 9 September 2026 · Last researched: 9 September 2026