The two 450 feet deep shafts at this colliery at Bo’ness were sunk in 1914 by the Carriden Coal Company, and the following seams were worked:-
| Smithy | 1915 |
| Main | 1920-1935, 1947-1950 |
| Six Feet | 1920-1940 |
| Seven Feet | 1935-1950 |
| Corbiehall | 1947-1950 |
Its owners were:-
1915-1920 Carriden Coal Co.
1925-1940 Carriden Coal Co. Ltd
1945-1946 Bairds & Scottish Steel Ltd
1947-1953 National Coal Board
Numbers Employed
Year Underground Surface
1915 8 21
1918 47 13
1920 89 19
1925 74 25
1930 135 43
1935 170 66
1938 164 64
1940 170 63
1945 184 81
1947 238 80
1950 252 80
Carriden closed in January 1953.
Bo’ness Engine
Collieries worked in the Carriden area of Bo’ness long before the above colliery. Here are four photo’s of a possible Newcomen-type pumping engine house on a public space off Harbour Road (NT 0139.8129), which was subsequently converted to a dove cote (doocot). The building was reduced in height and a south sloping roof formed.
The building is very narrow, and it is thought that the two arches allowed a ‘haystack’ boiler to be fitted directly below the cylinder, with its shoulders projecting outside. This arrangement kept the width of the house down and negated the need for very heavy section timbers to support the engine. A sketch of an engine house at Troopers Hill in Bristol suggests a similar layout there.
The circular wall purportedly covers the shaft top, but it is relatively remote from the end wall of the engine house. Moreover, it was usual for pits to be rectangular and line with timber. It may be, therefore, that the shaft was actually rectangular with one end closer to the engine house to allow entry of the pump rod.
(Based on notes and photographs by Geoff Hayes).
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