Snab Brae, Castleloan

Image: © Lairich Rig Taken: 3 Sep 2011

This area is part of the Castleloan housing estate in Kinneil. This area is called Snab on old OS maps. For instance, maps of c.1860 show a Snab Cottage, and a Snab Pier (the shoreline has changed considerably since then). The Snab Pits were located nearby, about 180 metres ahead, not far to the right of the line of the present-day road. Ironstone from these pits was used in the nearby Kinneil Iron Works. See https://canmore.org.uk/site/211837/boness-kinneil-iron-works-snab-pits (at Canmore) for further details. [The presence of ironstone in the vicinity of Bo'ness is noted in the Old Statistical Account of 1796: "besides coal already mentioned, iron stone is dug from a bank in the neighbourhood of Borrowstownness, and is said to abound in other parts of the parish". The corresponding parish entry in the New Statistical Account (1845) mentions the Snab several times in connection with coal and mineral deposits. The Dictionary of the Scots Language gives, as one meaning of the word "snab", "a projection of rock, a steep, short slope, the brow of a rugged ascent"; in any case, the place-name appears on William Forrest's 1818 map of Linlithgowshire.] At the junction where the bowling club sign is located, Image branches off to the right; the same sign can be seen in that photograph.

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