Foulford Colliery

Overview

A Cowdenbeath Coal Company colliery a mile east of Cowdenbeath station, sunk in 1884 to the Dunfermline Splint, taken over by the Fife Coal Company in 1896 and closed in 1931; it lived on to the mid-1950s as a central washery, and its bings and lagoons now lie under a golf course.

History

When the Cowdenbeath Coal Company sank its Foulford No. 1 Pit in 1884, about 200 yards west of the Lochgelly Iron and Coal Company's own Foulford Pit, it took over the 'Fair Helen' shaft as an upcast for the complex. The underground manager, David Anderson, is reported to have given the sinkers a supper in late September 1884 when they struck the Dunfermline Splint. The main shaft, about a mile east of Cowdenbeath station, wound, pumped and served as downcast. In 1890 No. 1 had a downcast 14 by 6 feet and an upcast 6 by 4½ feet, both 917 feet deep, a Stevenson fan, and 182 men underground and 115 on the surface working the Lochgelly Splint and Parrot, Five Foot and Dunfermline Splint.

The Fife Coal Company took over when it amalgamated with the Cowdenbeath Coal Company in 1896, and for years 'Cowdenbeath No. 9 and Foulford' was a listed working unit. Foulford No. 2 shaft was sunk in 1924 and a Swallowdrum mine was in operation by 1927. In 1928 T. Turnbull Thyne was manager, with 190 men underground and 77 on the surface raising gas, household and steam coal from the Lochgelly Splint, Swallowdrum and Little Splint. David Anderson was manager in 1884-1899 and John Gray in 1915-21.

The complex closed temporarily in 1931 because of the economic climate and never reopened as a production unit, but Foulford carried on into the mid-1950s as a central washery for the surrounding pits. The Scottish Cave and Mine Database records ironstone workings of the Foulford pits, surveyed in 1870, and says the sites of the two shafts now lie in wooded parts of the golf course; the conical bings and settling lagoons have been reclaimed and landscaped. A labourer, Alexander Currie, died after a wagon fell on his legs at the Foulford pit in September 1904.

Geology

Coal and ironstone of the Limestone Coal Formation. A nineteenth-century report gave the Lochgelly Splint and Parrot (with 5 ft of splint), the Mynheer at 4 ft 6 in, the Five Foot at 5 ft and the Dunfermline Splint at 5 ft; abandonment plans name the Fourteen Feet, Glassee, Jewel, Swallowdrum and Little Splint seams. The Scottish Cave and Mine Database records ironstone workings of the Foulford pits, surveyed in 1870.

Workings

No. 1 had a downcast 14 by 6 feet and an upcast 6 by 4½ feet, both 917 feet deep, with a Stevenson fan 10 feet by 2; the 'Fair Helen' shaft served as upcast for the complex, and No. 2 shaft was sunk in 1924. A Foulford Swallowdrum mine worked by 1927 and the site was a central washery until the mid-1950s.

Closure

The complex closed temporarily in 1931 in the general economic climate and did not reopen as a production unit; it continued to the mid-1950s as a central washery for the surrounding pits.

What remains

The bings and settling lagoons have been reclaimed and landscaped as part of a golf course.

The two shaft sites lie in wooded sections of the golf course.

Redevelopment

Reclaimed and landscaped as part of a golf course.

Recorded claims

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

• The Cowdenbeath Coal Company sank Foulford No. 1 Pit in 1884, taking over the 'Fair Helen' shaft as an upcast, and struck the Dunfermline Splint in late September 1884. ¹
• In 1890 Foulford No. 1 had a downcast of 14 by 6 feet and an upcast of 6 by 4½ feet, both 917 feet deep, with 182 men underground and 115 on the surface. ¹
• The Fife Coal Company took over Foulford on amalgamating with the Cowdenbeath Coal Company in 1896. ^1,2
• Foulford No. 2 shaft was sunk in 1924 and the Foulford Swallowdrum mine was working by 1927. ¹
• The Foulford complex closed temporarily in 1931 and never reopened as a production unit, continuing to the mid-1950s as a central washery. ¹
• The Scottish Cave and Mine Database records ironstone workings at the Foulford pits, surveyed in 1870, with No. 1 Pit 43 fathoms deep to the ironstone and the 'Fair Helen' No. 2 Pit 69 fathoms deep. ³
• Alexander Currie, a labourer, died in September 1904 after a wagon being shunted came to rest on his legs at the Fife Coal Company's Foulford pit. ⁴
• The British Geological Survey catalogues abandonment plans for Foulford, including Cowdenbeath/Foulford and Foulford No 1, Mossbeath and Cowdenbeath No 7. ⁵

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Fife Pits: Foulford Nos. 1, 2 Pits, Cowdenbeath — Fife Pits
2. (secondary) RAILSCOT: Foulford Colliery Pit No 1 — RAILSCOT
3. (secondary) Scottish Cave and Mine Database: Foulford No.1 Pit — Grampian Speleological Group
4. (secondary) Accidents 1901-1914 (Scottish Mining Website) — Scottish Mining Website
5. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority abandonment plans: FOULFORD — British Geological Survey

Record created: 30 September 2026 · Last researched: 30 September 2026