Kirkness Colliery

Overview

A colliery near Capledrae, on the coal of the Kirkness estate, working the Capledrae parrot coal from the 1840s. Leased in turn by James Goodall and William Fraser, it later belonged to the Fife Coal Company, flooded in January 1892 and probably closed about 1893. Its site later became the first railway loading point of the Westfield Opencast.

History

Kirkness Colliery lay about a quarter of a mile south-east of Manorleys Farm, near Capledrae Row, working the coal of the Kirkness estate, which lay in the parish of Portmoak in Kinross-shire. A shaft to the Capledrae parrot coal was probably sunk by James Goodall of Kinglassie in the early 1840s, and in June 1844 the coal of the estate, belonging to Earl Compton and then let to Goodall, was advertised to let, Goodall being ready to assign his lease. Later mines, north-east of the first pit, worked the Capledrae parrot at about 25 fathoms. A. W. Brotchie's account of the early railways of west Fife gives the Marquis of Northampton as proprietor and William Fraser as lessee in the 1860s and 1870s, with an output of 3,000 tons a year, and David Bowman is believed to have been its coal master in 1872. Plans survive of its gas coal workings, abandoned in 1879, and of ironstone workings at Capledrae, Kirkness and Bogside, abandoned in 1857.

In June 1890 the union's district secretary warned the Fife Coal Company's manager at Bogside that the Kirkness and Bogside miners would strike unless a contractor and his men paid their dues to the union, and by 1893 the colliery was the Fife Coal Company's, with David Beveridge as manager. On a Sunday in January 1892 Kirkness flooded, throwing all its men idle while the water was pumped off, and it probably closed around 1893, when its Capledrae gas coal and thick coal workings were abandoned. The Ordnance Survey of 1896 shows its mines disused. The colliery was served by a long siding of the North British Railway's Lochore branch, and its site, west of what became the Westfield Opencast, later became the opencast's main railway loading point.

Geology

Fife coalfield: the Capledrae parrot (cannel or gas) coal, with the Thick Coal, the Cherry coal and the Bogside ironstone.

Workings

A shaft to the Capledrae parrot, probably of the early 1840s, and two later mines to the north-east; a rail siding curving north into the colliery from the Lochore branch.

Closure

Flooded in January 1892 and probably closed around 1893, when its Capledrae gas and thick coal workings were abandoned; shown disused on the 1896 map.

What remains

The site became the first railway loading point of the Westfield Opencast.

Redevelopment

Westfield Disposal Point, the opencast's railway loading point.

Related mines

• Capledrae Colliery — Kirkness lay by Capledrae and worked the same Capledrae parrot coal; ironstone plans of Capledrae, Kirkness and Bogside are catalogued together.
• Westfield Opencast — The Kirkness Colliery site later became Westfield Opencast's first railway loading point, Westfield Disposal Point.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• In the 1860s and 1870s the Marquis of Northampton was proprietor and William Fraser lessee, with an annual output of 3,000 tons. (uncertain) ¹

Recorded claims

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

• The shaft to the Capledrae parrot coal was probably sunk by James Goodall of Kinglassie in the early 1840s; in June 1844 the Kirkness estate coal, let to Goodall, was advertised to let. ¹
• In the 1860s and 1870s the Marquis of Northampton was proprietor and William Fraser lessee, with an annual output of 3,000 tons. (uncertain) ¹
• Kirkness Colliery flooded on a Sunday in January 1892, throwing all its workmen idle, and probably closed around 1893. ¹
• The Kirkness workings in the Capledrae gas coal were abandoned in 1893, and the Kirkness Mines gas workings in 1879. ^2,3
• The colliery was served by a long siding of the Lochore branch of the North British Railway, and its location later became the main railway loading point of the Westfield Opencast. ⁴

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Kirkness Colliery, by Capledrae (Pit K-3) — Fife Pits and Scottish Mining Memories
2. (primary) BGS mine plan: Kirkness, Capledrae Gas, abandoned 1893 — BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans
3. (primary) BGS mine plan: Kirkness Mines, Gas, abandoned 1879 — BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans
4. (secondary) Kirkness Colliery — RailScot

Record created: 4 October 2026 · Last researched: 5 October 2026