Wallace Thorneycroft (1864–1954) was a 19th/20th century British mining engineer, businessman, coal-mine owner and geologist. He was President of the Institute of Mining Engineers. As a geologist and archaeologist he was an expert on

vitrified fort Vitrified forts are stone enclosures whose walls have been subjected to vitrification through heat. It was long thought that these structures were unique to Scotland, but they have since been identified in several other parts of western and northe ...

s and one of the first to undertake practical experiments to establish their mode of construction.

Life

He was born in Dorchester on 24 February 1864, the son of Thomas Thorneycroft, and his wife, Jane Whitelaw. The family moved to the Mansion House in

Tettenhall Tettenhall is an historic village within the City of Wolverhampton, England. Tettenhall became part of Wolverhampton in 1966, along with Bilston, Wednesfield and parts of Willenhall, Coseley and Sedgley. History Tettenhall's name derives fr ...

in his youth. He was educated privately at Charterhouse School. He studied Mining Engineering at

Owen's College The Victoria University of Manchester, usually referred to as simply the University of Manchester, was a university in Manchester, England. It was founded in 1851 as Owens College. In 1880, the college joined the federal Victoria University. Afte ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

then was apprenticed to Simpson and Rankine in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. He trained as a mining engineer and based himself in central Scotland. His first position was as manager of Merrytown Colliery in Hamilton from 1889, then moving eastwards, and living at 25 Snowdon Place in

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

from 1896. In 1894 he rented the Plean estate to open a colliery, from 1897 living himself on-site at

Plean Plean is a village, in the Stirling council area of central Scotland, located on the main A9 road from Falkirk. At the 2001 census, Plean had a population of 1,740. Plean has some historic buildings, some council houses and an estate. Landmar ...

House, near

in central Scotland, the former mansion of the late William Simpson of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

. The estate had been historically part of the lands owned by

Robert Haldane Robert Haldane (28 February 1764 – 12 December 1842) was a religious writer and Scottish theologian. Author of ''Commentaire sur l'Épître aux Romains, On the Inspiration of Scripture'' and ''Exposition of the Epistle to the Romans.'' Early ...

Airthrey Castle Airthrey Castle is a historic building and estate which now forms part of the buildings and grounds of the University of Stirling in central Scotland. The 18th-century building with 19th-century additions occupies a beautiful setting in ...

. Plean House was built by Francis Simpson in 1819. The Simpson family held title to the estate until 1922 when it was bought in its entirety by Thorneycroft. In 1902 he also became Director of

Lochgelly Lochgelly ( ; gd, Loch Gheallaidh, IPA: �ɫ̪ɔxˈʝaɫ̪ai is a town in Fife, Scotland. It is located between Loch Ore, Lochs Ore and Gelly to the north-west and south-east respectively. It is separated from Cowdenbeath by the village of ...

Coal and Iron Co. in central Fife. In 1907 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were fellow geologists

John Horne John Horne PRSE FRS FRSE FEGS LLD (1 January 1848 – 30 May 1928) was a Scottish geologist. He served as President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh from 1915 to 1919. Life Horne was born on 1 January 1848, in Campsie, Stirlingshire, the ...

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, Sir

John Smith Flett Sir John Smith Flett (26 June 1869 – 26 January 1947) was a Scottish physician and geologist. Early life Born in Kirkwall, Orkney, the son of James Ferguson Flett, a merchant and baillie, and Mary Ann (née Copland). He was educated at Kir ...

and L. W. Hinxman. His East Plean mine suffered a major underground explosion in 1922 with many dead and injured. Of the 520 total mining workforce 12 were killed at 59 injured. In 1937 he came to relative fame in Europe by experimenting on recreating conditions to create a vitrified fort, this being in liaison with archaeologist

Vere Gordon Childe Vere Gordon Childe (14 April 189219 October 1957) was an Australian archaeologist who specialised in the study of European prehistory. He spent most of his life in the United Kingdom, working as an academic for the University of Edinburgh and ...

. These experiments took place at one of his own mines:

Colliery. He retired to Strete Ralegh, a mansion in

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but retained Directorship of his Plean and Lochgelly companies. He died in Weymouth on 26 April 1954 aged 90. His colliery at Plean was closed in 1963 and is now just marked by a memorial. Plean House was vacated by the Thorneycroft family in 1972 and is now ruinous. The estate and former colliery and slag-heaps were acquired by Stirling District Council in 1988 and the colliery area relandscaped. The combined areas now form Plean Country Park.

Family

He married Margaret Campbell and they had at least six children.

Publications

* Childe, V. G. & Thorneycroft, W. (1938)
The Experimental Production of the Phenomena Distinctive of Vitrified Forts
''

Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland is the senior antiquarian body of Scotland, with its headquarters in the National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh. The Society's aim is to promote the cultural heritage of Scotland. The usua ...

'' 72, 44–55.
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thorneycroft, Wallace 1864 births 1954 deaths People educated at Charterhouse School British mining engineers British geologists Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh