Crossgates Colliery

Overview

The coal-works around the village of Crossgates near Dunfermline, where colliers were recorded from the 1640s and John Ramsay's new colliery of 1840-42 employed 26 men and six women.

History

Shallow pits or sinks worked the outcrop seams just east of Crossgates, across the old track called the Taft towards Mossbeath, and south of the village around Windmill Knowe. Parish registers name colliers 'in Crocegaittes' in 1640, 1641 and 1646. The first commercial Crossgates pits were probably those of John Ramsay in the nineteenth century, and a written reference to Crossgates Colliery dates from 1840; an old pit stood by the inn at the village crossroads.

In 1842 John Ramsay was lessee and the colliery, in Dunfermline parish, employed 26 males and six females. His agent told the Children's Employment Commission that the work was new and few children were employed, chiefly at the pumps, working eight hours at a time before changing; the youngest employed was nine, and he thought that if children were kept out of the pits until twelve they would be taught to read and write. Other pits around the village belonged to the neighbouring Hill of Beath, Cuttlehill and Prathouse collieries, the last on ground leased to Fordell in the 1830s.

Geology

Outcrop coal seams worked from shallow pits.

Workings

Shallow pits or sinks on the outcrop east and south of the village; Ramsay's pits near the inn and to the south-west; in 1842 children worked at the pumps.

Closure

Unknown.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Fordell Colliery — Prathouse, south-west of Crossgates, was on ground leased to Fordell in the 1830s, and Fordell's William Pit lies just north-east of the village.

Recorded claims

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

• Parish registers name colliers in Crossgates ('Crocegaittes') in 1640, 1641 and 1646. ¹
• A written reference to Crossgates Colliery dates from 1840, when John Ramsay was the owner. ¹
• In 1842 Crossgates Colliery, in Dunfermline parish, was leased by John Ramsay (Ramsey) and employed 26 males and six females. ^1,2
• In 1842 the work was new and few children were employed, chiefly at the pumps, working eight-hour shifts; the youngest was nine. ^1,2

Sources

1. (secondary) Fife Pits: Crossgates Colliery — Fife Pits
2. (primary) West Fife (1842 Children's Employment Commission evidence) — Scottish Mining Website

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