Halbeath Colliery

Overview

One of Fife's oldest and most important collieries, north-east of Dunfermline: thriving by 1738, sold with its fire engine for £500 in 1770, the start of a five-mile wagon road to Inverkeithing about 1781, 841 workers by 1821, and later under Henderson, Wallace and Company and the Wallace brothers into the 1890s.

History

Halbeath, over two miles north-east of old Dunfermline, was mined for many centuries, and one source suggests the colliery was thriving by 1738. In January 1770 the splint coal and other seams of the Halbeath lands, with a fire engine, collier houses and coal bearers, were advertised for sale for an upset price of £500, on terms that bound the workers to the colliery. The brothers Cornelius and Sampson Lloyd, English merchants based in the Netherlands, owned it from 1779 to 1785 and are believed to have laid a wagon road about 1781 to Inverkeithing harbour; in 1791 the Statistical Account described a timber wagon road of five miles with 24 wagons carrying two tons each. In 1785 they sold the colliery and its saltworks for £1,800 to John Morrison, John Campbell and Richard Fishwick.

Flooding was a constant trouble: a costly pumping engine was installed in 1787-88, and Miller of Dalswinton, inventor of the steamboat, and his assistant Symington are reported to have visited in 1789 about erecting one. By the end of the century it was one of the most important coal-works in Fife, sending coal by waggonway to Inverkeithing for salt-making and for Leith, and in 1821 the pits employed 841 coal workers. The field covered over 200 acres with eight or nine workable seams, including parrot and splint coals in demand at the Dunfermline gas-works; the Albert Pit was sunk about 1790 to 44 fathoms, and the Queen, Albert and Eliza pits were the last worked.

W. Gofton managed in 1836-38 and W. Gordon in 1840 for Messrs Gordon and Brown. Henderson, Wallace and Company held the colliery from 1853 to 1872 under the manager Charles Carlow, and the Halbeath Coal Company followed; in October 1884 the proprietor A. Wallace presented Carlow, senior, with £1,000 for over thirty years' service. Halbeath and Cuttlehill were worked together in 1886, Wallace died in 1888 and his two sons carried on as Wallace Brothers; William W. Muir managed Halbeath and Kingseat collieries until he left in September 1896. Canmore records the colliery on the Ordnance Survey of 1856 with the Albert and Queen pits, Back Row and Long Row.

Geology

Eight or nine workable seams, including parrot and splint coals; the Parrot (1829), Eight Feet (1847), Splint (1869), Five Feet (1876) and Three Feet (1847) are recorded as abandoned in plans.

Workings

Many small pits over two centuries: Active, Albert, Brisk, Buckie, Eliza, Engine, Fletcher, George, Hamer, James, Mary, Plantation, Purley, Queen, Regent, Success and Willie among them; the Albert Pit was sunk about 1790 to 44 fathoms. A timber wagon road of five miles, laid about 1781, carried coal to Inverkeithing harbour.

Closure

Unknown.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Kingseat Colliery — Halbeath and Kingseat collieries were under one management in 1896 (William W. Muir) and were held by the Wallace family.

Recorded claims

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

• Halbeath Colliery may have been thriving by 1738, and in January 1770 its splint coal and other seams, fire engine and collier houses were advertised for sale for an upset price of £500. ¹
• Cornelius and Sampson Lloyd owned Halbeath Colliery from 1779 to 1785 and are believed to have laid a wagon road to Inverkeithing about 1781. ¹
• In 1785 the Lloyd brothers sold Halbeath Colliery and its saltworks to John Morrison, John Campbell and Richard Fishwick for £1,800. ¹
• The 1791 Statistical Account described a timber wagon road of five miles with 24 wagons carrying two tons each to the harbour. ¹
• In 1821 the Halbeath pits are reported to have employed 841 coal workers. ¹
• Henderson, Wallace and Company held Halbeath from 1853 to 1872, the Halbeath Coal Company from 1875, and A. Wallace and then the Wallace brothers in the 1880s. ¹
• Canmore records Halbeath Colliery on the 1856 Ordnance Survey comprising the Albert and Queen pits, Back Row and Long Row. ²
• Fatal accidents reported at Halbeath Colliery's pits include John Paterson at Kingseat in February 1866 and William Shepherd in the Eliza Pit in 1873. ^3,4

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Fife Pits: Halbeath Colliery — Fife Pits
2. (secondary) Dunfermline, Halbeath Colliery (Canmore) — Canmore (Historic Environment Scotland)
3. (secondary) Fife Accidents 1871 to 1900 (Scottish Mining Website) — Scottish Mining Website
4. (secondary) Accidents 1855 - 1870 (Scottish Mining Website) — Scottish Mining Website

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