Pyothall No. 5 Pit

Location	Pyothall, north of Broxburn, Uphall parish, West Lothian — 55.9386, -3.4774 (approximate)
Commodity	Oil Shale
Type	Mineral
Worked	By 1883–1919
Maximum depth	460 feet (upcast shaft, 1883)
Operators	Broxburn Oil Company Ltd (?–1919, owner) — Owned the pit and the Broxburn oil works it supplied

A fiery shale pit north of Broxburn with shafts some 450 feet deep, worked by the Broxburn Oil Company from before 1883; its workings joined those of Haycraigs and were abandoned with them in 1919, and its pumps were taken out in 1923.

Location

Approximate location. The large pin is this mine; the small round markers are the nearest mines on record. Click one for its page. View on full map

History

Pyothall No. 5 was a vertical-shaft pit serving the Broxburn Oil Company's works at Broxburn. The Mineral Statistics for 1883 record the Broxburn Shale worked at 'No. 5 Pyathall' by stoop and room under the management of Alex Kennedy, with 4 on the surface and 20 underground; by 1884 there were 7 and 48. The downcast shaft, 10 feet by 7, was 440 feet deep and the upcast, 4½ by 7, 460 feet. The pit was considered fiery, was ventilated by steam and worked double shifts.

Its workings in the Broxburn Shales were latterly joined to those of the Haycraigs mines, and seem also to have met the Broxburn Shale workings of Albyn Mine and the Dunnet Shale workings of the Dunnet (Sandholes) mines. The Curly, Broxburn and Grey Shale workings of Haycraigs and Pyothall No. 5 were abandoned together in 1919. Pumping went on at the pit: in June 1923 a turbine pump from Ingliston replaced the Riedler steam pump, but by November the pumping plant was being dismantled, and its removal was complete in December 1923.

Geology

The Broxburn Shales (Broxburn, Curly and Grey); the workings were fiery.

Workings

A downcast shaft 10 by 7 feet and 440 feet deep and an upcast 4½ by 7 feet and 460 feet deep; stoop and room, double-shifted, ventilated by steam; the workings latterly joined to Haycraigs.

Closure

The workings were abandoned with those of Haycraigs in 1919; the pumping plant was dismantled and removed in November and December 1923.

What remains

The pit site is green space beside housing.

Mine waste exposed on the bank of the burn beside the site (2012).

Related mines

Broxburn Oil Works — Pyothall No. 5 supplied shale to the Broxburn Oil Company's works at Broxburn.
Haycraigs Mines — Pyothall No. 5's workings were joined underground to those of Haycraigs, and the two were abandoned together in 1919.

Nearby mines

Broxburn Oil Works — 0.4 miles (0.7 km) SE
Stewartfield No. 1 Mine — 0.5 miles (0.7 km) E
Dunnet Mine — 0.6 miles (0.9 km) E
Haycraigs Mines — 0.6 miles (0.9 km) N
Greendykes South Mine — 0.6 miles (1.0 km) NE

Straight-line distance, within 9 miles (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.

In 1883 'No. 5 Pyathall' worked the Broxburn Shale by stoop and room with 4 on the surface and 20 underground; by 1884 there were 7 and 48. ¹
The downcast shaft was 440 feet deep and the upcast 460 feet; the pit was fiery, ventilated by steam and double-shifted. ¹
The workings in the Curly, Broxburn and Grey Shales were abandoned with those of Haycraigs in 1919. ^2,1
The pumping plant at Pyothall Pit was dismantled and removed in November and December 1923. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Pyothall No.5 pit (Scottish Shale) (reference)

The Museum of the Scottish Shale Oil Industry's page for the pit, with the 1896 OS map, site photographs, the Mineral Statistics and the 1923 board reports.

View source

Sources

(secondary) Pyothall No.5 pit (Scottish Shale) — Scottish Shale (Museum of the Scottish Shale Oil Industry)
(primary) BGS mine plan: HAYSCRAIGS PYOTHALL NO.5, Broxburn seam, abandoned 1919 — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority

Record created: 26 October 2026 · Last researched: 3 November 2026