Hill of Beath Colliery

Overview

A group of pits west of Cowdenbeath, the Loan, Minister's, West and Engine pits, worked from the early 1800s and owned by Ord Adams and then David Adams until the Fife Coal Company bought the West, Engine and Dalbeath pits in 1889; the old pits had almost stopped by 1911 while Dalbeath carried on.

History

Coal was worked at Hill of Beath, west of Cowdenbeath, from the early nineteenth century at pits including the Loan, the Minister's, the West and the Engine. Robert Wilson held them in the 1830s and 1840s, with T. Landers as lessee in the 1840s, and K. Mathieson worked them in 1851-56. Messrs Nasmyth had them as the Hill of Beath Coal and Firebrick Works in 1857-59, and Ord Adams owned the colliery from 1859 until his death on 20 April 1882, aged 75. The Engine Pit, a quarter of a mile west of the village, was probably being sunk in the early 1860s when the Minister's Pit was deepened into the larger West Pit.

The Dalbeath pits were sunk in 1886-87, and in February 1889 the Fife Coal Company bought the West, Engine and Dalbeath pits from David Adams; he died in April 1902. Henry Rowan managed in 1893, when the colliery employed 521 underground and 163 on the surface (1896), working gas, household, manufacturing and steam coals and ironstone. William Riddell was manager in 1904-07, when Hill of Beath had 165 underground and 44 on the surface and Dalbeath 280 and 86; Thomas Borland followed in 1908-09, with 306 and 49 at Hill of Beath against 413 and 191 at Dalbeath.

By 1911 only 13 underground and 4 on the surface remained at the old Hill of Beath pits while Dalbeath had 372 and 123. The Engine Pit probably closed about 1912 as Dalbeath became more productive, though coal from its underground workings was wrought through the Dalbeath pits until they closed in 1930-31. Fife Pits' abandonment plans record the Duddie Davie and splint seams abandoned in 1872, the Swallowdrum in 1904, the Kinglassie Splint in 1908 and the Diamond seam in 1910.

Geology

A nineteenth-century report gave the Fourteen Foot at 4 ft 8 in, the Duddie Davie at 5 ft 5 in, the Lochgelly Splint at 4 ft 2 in with 3 ft 9 in of stone coal, the Glassee at 5 ft 5 in, the Five Foot with ironstone, and the Dunfermline Splint at 4 ft 6 in; the abandonment plans also name the Swallowdrum, Kinglassie Splint and Diamond seams.

Workings

The Loan, Minister's (later deepened to the West) and Engine pits, with the Dalbeath Nos. 1 and 2 pits sunk nearby in 1886-87; the Engine Pit's workings were later reached through Dalbeath.

Closure

Little coal was being worked at the old Hill of Beath pits by 1911 and the Engine Pit probably closed about 1912; its workings were worked through Dalbeath until 1930-31.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Dalbeath Colliery — Dalbeath was sunk on the Hill of Beath estate in 1886-87, bought with the West and Engine pits in 1889, and the Engine Pit's workings were worked through the Dalbeath pits until 1930-31.

Disasters & major incidents

• Hill of Beath Colliery fire, 1901
  15 February 1901 · Fire · 7 fatalities
  An underground fire in the east section of the Lochgelly Splint and Parrot seam at Hill of Beath Colliery, Fife, killed seven men on 15 February 1901. The oversman and the fireman went to examine the stoppings that shut the fire off and did not return; a search party led by the manager walked into carbon monoxide in the return airway and most of it was lost.

Recorded claims

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

• The Hill of Beath colliery included the Loan, Minister's, West and Engine pits and, from 1886-87, the Dalbeath Nos. 1 and 2 pits. ¹
• Ord Adams owned Hill of Beath Colliery from 1859 until his death on 20 April 1882, aged 75. ¹
• In February 1889 the Fife Coal Company bought the West, Engine and Dalbeath pits from David Adams. ¹
• The Engine Pit was probably sunk in the early 1860s and may have closed about 1912, its workings being worked through the Dalbeath pits until 1930-31. ^1,2
• Employment at Hill of Beath was 521 underground and 163 on the surface in 1896, 165 and 44 in 1904, 229 and 108 in 1905, 306 and 49 in 1908 and 13 and 4 in 1911. ¹
• Coals worked included the Fourteen Foot, Duddie Davie, Lochgelly Splint, Glassee, Five Foot and Dunfermline Splint, with ironstone. ¹
• Canmore records the West Pit, Hill of Beath, as site NT19SW 47. ³
• In March 1888 David King, a miner, suffered a fractured skull at Hill of Beath colliery when battens toppled from a wagon at the Dalbeath pit, where sinking was going on. ⁴

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Fife Pits: Hill of Beath Colliery — Fife Pits
2. (secondary) Fife Pits: Engine Pit, Hill of Beath — Fife Pits
3. (secondary) West Pit, Hill of Beath (Canmore) — Canmore (Historic Environment Scotland)
4. (secondary) Fife Accidents 1871 to 1900 (Scottish Mining Website) — Scottish Mining Website

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