Birkhill Clay Mine
Situated in the Avon Gorge beside Birkhill Station, the Fireclay Mine is well worth a visit for all but the very young, old or infirm. The experienced guides show you the underground workings, the 300 million year old fossils and describe the life of the fireclay miners. Tours last approximately an hour and are co-ordinated with the railway timetable.From its dark passages was dug high quality high alumina fireclay which was formed into bricks which lined the industrial furnaces of Central Scotland. Part of the vast labyrinth dug through the fireclay seam has been opened up to visitors, and you can enjoy a thrilling underground tour of the old workings.Tour guides will meet your train at Birkhill Station (the Mine is open on every day when trains run), and will lead you down into the ancient woodland of the beautiful Avon Gorge, home to much wildlife including deer and otters. Then on into the Mine caverns. See how the clay was worked, see the imprint of ancient riverbeds in the excavated roof of the Mine and find 300 million-year-old fossils, laid down in the Carboniferous Period, long before dinosaurs walked the earth.