Toggle menu
  1. Home
  2. Environment
  3. Biodiversity and Geodiversity
  4. Local Geodiversity Sites in West Lothian
  5. 33 & 34. Barbauchlaw & Barbauchlaw Burn Quarries, Armadale

33 & 34. Barbauchlaw & Barbauchlaw Burn Quarries, Armadale

These quarries have rare exposures of the Lower Scottish Coal Measure Formation with a 10-metre thick section of sandstones lying above a coal seam.

33-34 Barbauchlaw and Barbauchlaw Burn Quarries Armadale

These two sites are close together west of Armadale. Unfortunately the Barbauchlaw Burn Quarries are so overgrown that they are difficult to see. These are believed to be the only, or one of the few, Lower Scottish Coal Measure Formation exposures in West Lothian. A 10 metre thick face of sandstone was formerly quarried here. This overlies a coal seam which originated from the swamp forests of the Carboniferous Period that flourished about 315 million years ago. 

Parking is available in Mill Road, Armadale. Wallace's Arch (site 32) is nearby.