Bowhill Colliery

Overview

Bowhill, sunk at Cardenden in 1895 and known locally as 'the Josephine' after the young woman who opened it, grew into one of Fife's better-paying pits before an underground firedamp explosion killed ten men in 1931 — the colliery's single worst disaster in a seventy-year working life that outlasted the coalfield boom that built it.

History

Before Bowhill became a coal pit, the ground had already been worked for Black Band ironstone across three pits by the Dalmellington Iron Company. Sinking of the coal-mining shafts began in early 1895, and the official opening ceremony was carried out on 28 January 1895 by Miss Josephine Haig, daughter of H. V. Haig, chairman of the newly formed Bowhill Coal Company — the pit was known locally as 'the Josephine' ever after. The sinking met payable coal from 81 fathoms (the Bower Bank seam) down to 219 fathoms (the Two Feet, or Dunfermline Splint, seam); the main pumping shaft measured 27 by 11 feet and the second shaft 18 by 11 feet, with a third shaft added later that never matched the first two commercially. A 100-inch-cylinder pumping engine raised at least 1,400 gallons of water a minute, and coupled 30-inch winding engines on the two main pits were capable of raising at least 300,000 tons of coal a year. The Fife Coal Company acquired the colliery and its associated miners' housing in June 1909. On 31 October 1931 an underground firedamp explosion and the afterdamp it generated killed ten men working in the Dunfermline Splint seam (see Disasters, below). The colliery survived the disaster and continued working for over three further decades: at nationalisation in 1947 the new National Coal Board's flag was unveiled at Bowhill by John Herd, the colliery's oldest working miner, and Adam Drummond, its youngest. Bowhill finally closed in May 1965, with the National Coal Board reporting losses of around £750,000 a year.

Geology

The mine worked Carboniferous Coal Measures of the Fife Coalfield, meeting seams from the Bower Bank down to the Two Feet (Dunfermline Splint), the same sequence worked across the wider Lochgelly and Cardenden district.

Geological setting: Sedimentary Beds and Seams (well documented example)

Workings

Three shafts served the colliery, the main pumping shaft 27 by 11 feet and the second 18 by 11 feet; a 100-inch pumping engine and coupled 30-inch winding engines handled drainage and haulage on the two principal pits.

Closure

The colliery closed in May 1965, with the National Coal Board citing losses of around £750,000 a year.

Abandoned workings can be dangerous — unstable ground, uncapped shafts, flooding and bad air are common even where a site looks safe from the surface. This entry describes history and general location only; it is not an access guide.

Disasters & major incidents

• Bowhill Colliery disaster, 1931
  31 October 1931 · Explosion · 10 fatalities
  A firedamp explosion and the afterdamp that followed it killed ten men working in the Dunfermline Splint seam at Bowhill Colliery, Cardenden, on 31 October 1931 — one of the worst disasters in the history of the Fife coalfield.

Recorded claims

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

• Before Bowhill became a coal pit, the ground had already been worked for Black Band ironstone across three pits by the Dalmellington Iron Company. ¹
• Sinking met payable coal from 81 fathoms (Bower Bank) down to 219 fathoms (Two Feet, or Dunfermline Splint); the main pumping shaft measured 27 by 11 feet, the second 18 by 11 feet. ²
• A 100-inch-cylinder pumping engine raised at least 1,400 gallons of water a minute; coupled 30-inch winding engines on the two main pits could raise at least 300,000 tons of coal a year. ²
• Fife Coal Company acquired the colliery in June 1909; at nationalisation in 1947 the NCB flag was unveiled at Bowhill by John Herd, the oldest working miner, and Adam Drummond, the youngest. ²
• An underground firedamp explosion and the afterdamp it generated killed ten men working the Dunfermline Splint seam on 31 October 1931. ³

Photographs & further reading

This page doesn't try to reproduce everything — these are the best original sources found for this mine.

Sources

1. (primary) PLAN SHEWING THE BLACK BAND IRONSTONE WORKINGS IN NOS. 1, 2 AND 3 PITS BOWHILL — British Geological Survey / Coal Authority
2. (secondary) BOWHILL COLLIERY Part 1: Overview and the early decades — Central Fife Times
3. (secondary) Bowhill Disaster - 31st October 1931 — Scottish Mining Website

Record created: 27 August 2026 · Last researched: 28 August 2026