Balbirnie Colliery

Overview

The Balfour family's coalfield at Markinch, worked in small pits from the 1600s and made level-free by George Balfour's stone mine from the River Leven around 1740, which sold half a million tons in fifty years and supplied the smiths of the Fife coast with its cherry coal.

History

Many small pits worked the Balbirnie coal from the 1600s, first by the banks of the River Leven near Blinkbonnie and then outwards into the Balbirnie estate. About 1730 George Balfour of Balbirnie, who had studied mineralogy, traced the strata by bores from the old wastes to the river, then drove a stone mine across the measures from the Leven that made the field level-free by about 1740; it was worked from that level until 1780. Two coals were won: the little coal, a cherry coal that alone in that part of Fife would work iron and was sold to the smiths of the coast from Dysart to St Andrews, and the great coal, four to six feet thick, in a field shaped like a horseshoe. Between 1740 and 1792 about 500,995 tons were sold.

By 1845 the field was drained by water-engines on the Leven. In 1842 John Balfour of Balbirnie was proprietor and William Ballingall agent for both Balbirnie and Balgonie; only men were employed at Balbirnie, on an eight-hour day, and there had been two accidents in two years. Abandonment plans close the Main coal at the Newton pit in February 1880 and the Little coal in September 1890, and in the early 1900s two mines were driven south from Tofthill Plantation to work the Main coal again.

Geology

A trough-shaped field like a horseshoe with three seams: an upper soft cherry coal of 1 ft 6 in, the Main seam of cherry and splint 4 ft 6 in, and an under coal of 2 ft; the little coal lies 21 feet above the main coal.

Workings

Numerous small pits and sinks; a stone mine from the River Leven made the field level-free about 1740, and water-engines on the Leven drained it by 1845; the Newton Engine Pit worked the Main coal until 1880.

Closure

The Main coal at the Newton pit was abandoned in February 1880 and the Little coal in September 1890; two mines driven from Tofthill Plantation in the early 1900s worked the Main coal again.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• Many small pits working the Balbirnie coal are believed to date from the 1600s. (uncertain) ¹

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• Many small pits working the Balbirnie coal are believed to date from the 1600s. (uncertain) ¹
• About 1730 George Balfour of Balbirnie traced the strata by bores and drove a stone mine from the River Leven, making the field level-free about 1740; it was worked by that level until 1780. ¹
• About 500,995 tons of Balbirnie coal were sold between 1740 and 1792. ¹
• The little coal was a cherry coal that would work iron and was sold to the smiths of the Fife coast from Dysart to St Andrews. ¹
• In 1842 John Balfour of Balbirnie was proprietor, and only men were employed at Balbirnie, on an eight-hour day. ²
• The Main coal at the Newton pit was abandoned in February 1880 and the Little coal in September 1890. ^1,3,4

Sources

1. (secondary) Pit-B-35. Balbirnie Colliery — Fife Pits and Memories
2. (primary) Kirkcaldy District: 1842 Children's Employment Commission evidence — Scottish Mining Website
3. (primary) BGS mine plan: Balbirnie (Main, abandoned 1880) — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority
4. (primary) BGS mine plan: Balbirnie (Little, abandoned 1890) — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority

Record created: 19 October 2026 · Last researched: 19 October 2026