In co
njunction with East Dunbartonshire’s commemoration of the centenary of a fatal fire in Cadder No 15 pit, ACFA carried out a survey of Mavis Valley, a mining village, which was home to six of the men who died.
The first houses were built around 1855 and the latest between 1900 and 1910. The village was abandoned to squatters in the late 1940′s and finally demolished in 1955. Later the site was used, and subsequently abandoned, as a tree nursery which made the survey particularly difficult, but we were able to identify some of the oldest houses and locate the position of the local co-operative society’s shop.
One group of houses was better built with a slate damp-proof course and decorative brickwork. Behind them were steps up a bank to a raised area, possibly a drying green. The bricks used for the latest houses were from several brickworks suggesting different construction dates.
Further work may be undertaken at another deserted mining village, Lochfaulds, and there is a possibility of excavation on one or more of these sites in collaboration with Glasgow Museums Outreach programme.
Survey Director: Carol Primrose