Louisa Mine, Glendinning, Glenshanna Burn, Eskdale, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, UKi

Regional Level Types
Louisa Mine	Mine (Abandoned)
Glendinning	- not defined -
Glenshanna Burn	- not defined -
Eskdale	- not defined -
Dumfries and Galloway	Council Area
Scotland	Country
UK	Country

The Louisa Mine, also known as Glendinning Mine, is located near the head of the valley of Glenshanna Burn (a tributary of Meggat Water), approximately 1.3 km (0.8 miles) east of the small settlement of Jamestown and 22.5 km (14 miles) NE of the town of Lockerbie. The Jamestown settlement lies 7 km (4.5 miles) N of the hamlet of Bentpath and was established by the Westerhall Mining Company in the 1790s for miners working at the short-lived Louisa mine, extracting antimony discovered nearby in the form of stibnite. Both the ore processing plant and a row of miners' cottages at Jamestown are now gone, leaving only a solitary house, but the remnants of the mine and its spoil heaps can still be found at the foot of Alkin Hill to the east.

Ore was found at the Louisa Mine in 1788 and extracted from 1793-1798, 1888-1901 and 1919-1922. The vein trends NE, with stibnite being the primary mineral occurring. The mine was the first and probably the largest antimony mine in Britain.

From the track running up the valley to the mine on the N side of the burn, two trail drifts can be seen clearly. The high level shaft of the main mine is still open for a short distance. Near the collapsed entrance to the lower level lies the only surviving building, the magazine, built of brick with a slated roof. Between the upper level shaft and the burn valley are the remains of the spoil tips, a furnace and a number of minor structures, such as ponds for washing the ore.

Geology: antimony, cervantite & valentinite pseudomorphs, sphalerite - ‘black jack’ & ‘honey blende’. Massive galena associated with stibnite, sphalerite, etc. recovered from spoil.

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References