Mosside Colliery

Overview

Gavin Paul and Sons' colliery on the Mosside lands south of Bathgate, sunk in 1878 to the Balbardie coal and deepened to the Jewel and Main. Worked with Boghead and Riddochhill as one concern, it had a coal-washing plant serving all three by 1902; the firm stopped in 1922, and William Baird's No. 4 mine ran on to about 1925.

History

Gavin Paul, whose firm traded from Edinburgh, took the lease of the minerals on the Mosside estate south of Bathgate in 1877-78, and two pits were sunk at once to the Balbardie seam, reached at 32 fathoms. In 1883 No. 1 pit employed 81 under the manager Walter Annan, working the Balbardie coal longwall from a 200-foot downcast; No. 2 worked the Main coal, and No. 4, an inclined mine dipping at 1 in 2¾, the Balbardie. The pits were non-fiery. The Balbardie was worked out within the lease by 1892, and the pits were deepened to the Jewel and Main coals, reached in No. 1 at 69 fathoms.

The firm, Gavin Paul and Sons Ltd from 1898, held Mosside, Wester Inch, Riddochhill, Standhill and Boghead and worked them as one colliery with its own railway to the North British line. In 1902 it built a Felspar coal-washing plant at Mosside, by Dickson and Mann of Armadale, to wash the dross from Boghead and Riddochhill as well; that year the company raised about 180,000 tons and employed over 500 men. William Marshall, killed by a stone fall at No. 2 Mosside in 1903, was given a military funeral by his local Volunteer company.

Falls of roof and the waggon sidings claimed men through to 1922. In August 1922 Shirlaw, Allan and Co. sold the plant of Boghead and Mosside collieries "owing to stoppage", and William Baird and Co., who bought the surviving Bathgate pits about 1921, kept No. 4 mine working: it employed 68 in 1924, and the Mosside workings were abandoned in 1925.

Geology

Coal Measures of the Bathgate field: the Balbardie (gas) coal at 15-32 fathoms, the Jewel at 42 fathoms and the Bathgate Main coal at 54-69 fathoms, with the China (Shaley) coal.

Workings

No. 1 pit (c.1879-1922; downcast 16 ft by 6 ft and 200 ft deep in 1883, workings linked to Boghead pit), No. 2 pit (c.1879, closed before 1914), No. 3 pit, and No. 4 mine, an incline dipping 1 in 2¾ and ventilated by furnace in 1883. Longwall working throughout; a Felspar coal-washing plant was added in 1902.

Closure

Gavin Paul and Sons stopped Mosside and Boghead in 1922 and sold the plant; William Baird and Co.'s No. 4 mine was the last working, abandoned in 1925.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Boghead Colliery — Gavin Paul and Sons worked Mosside and Boghead as one colliery; Mosside No. 1's workings linked to Boghead pit, and the plant of both was sold together in 1922.
• Riddochhill Colliery — Gavin Paul and Sons worked the Riddochhill and Mosside leaseholds as one colliery, and Riddochhill's dross was washed at Mosside from 1902.

Recorded claims

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

• Gavin Paul took the lease of the minerals on the Mosside estate in 1878, and two pits were sunk at once to the Balbardie seam. ¹
• A lease of the minerals in Mosside was held by Gavin Paul from 1877. ²
• In 1883 Mosside No. 1, managed by Walter Annan, worked the Balbardie coal longwall with 21 surface and 60 underground workers; the downcast shaft was 200 feet deep. ³
• Gavin Paul and Sons worked the Mosside, Wester Inch, Standhill, Riddochhill and Boghead leaseholds as one colliery, with their own railway to the North British line. ²
• In 1902 a Felspar coal-washing plant built by Dickson and Mann of Armadale was completed at Mosside to wash the dross from Boghead and Riddochhill pits as well. ³
• The plant of Boghead and Mosside collieries was sold by auction on 4 August 1922 owing to the stoppage of the collieries. ³
• William Baird and Co.'s Mosside No. 4 mine employed 60 underground and 8 surface workers in 1924. ^4,5
• The Mosside Jewel, Balbardie and China workings were abandoned in 1925. ⁶

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Scottish Shale archives: The Modern History of the Bathgate Mines (Linlithgowshire Gazette, 1902) — Scottish Shale (Museum of the Scottish Shale Oil Industry, Almond Valley Heritage Trust)
2. (secondary) Scottish Shale: Gavin Paul & Sons (Limited) — Scottish Shale (Museum of the Scottish Shale Oil Industry, Almond Valley Heritage Trust)
3. (secondary) Scottish Shale: Mosside No.1 Pit — Scottish Shale (Museum of the Scottish Shale Oil Industry, Almond Valley Heritage Trust)
4. (secondary) Scottish Shale: Mosside No.4 mine — Scottish Shale (Museum of the Scottish Shale Oil Industry, Almond Valley Heritage Trust)
5. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Mosside, No.4 Pit, 1922 — Northern Mine Research Society
6. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: Mosside, Jewel, Balbardie and China, abandoned 1925 — British Geological Survey
7. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: Mosside, Jewel and Main, abandoned 1890 — British Geological Survey
8. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Mosside, 1902 — Northern Mine Research Society
9. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Mosside, 1903 — Northern Mine Research Society
10. (primary) University of Glasgow Archives: DC102 Records of Shirlaw Allan, industrial auctioneers, Hamilton (item list) — University of Glasgow Archives
11. (secondary) Accidents 1901-1914 (newspaper reports) — Scottish Mining Website
12. (secondary) Scottish Mining Website: Lothians accidents 1915-1920 — Scottish Mining Website
13. (secondary) Scottish Shale: Gavin Paul & Sons — Scottish Shale (Museum of the Scottish Shale Oil Industry, Almond Valley Heritage Trust)
14. (secondary) Scottish Shale: Mosside No.2 pit — Scottish Shale (Museum of the Scottish Shale Oil Industry, Almond Valley Heritage Trust)

Record created: 16 October 2026 · Last researched: 16 October 2026