Lumphinnans No 1 Colliery

Overview

A Fife coal and ironstone pit at Lumphinnans between Cowdenbeath and Lochgelly, traced to ironstone workings of about 1826 and run in turn by the Christie brothers, the Lumphinnans Iron Company, the Cowdenbeath Coal Company and the Fife Coal Company until it closed on 25 January 1957.

History

Lumphinnans No. 1 Pit lay north of the Cowdenbeath to Lochgelly road, near the now disused rail bridge. Its roots are a group of small ironstone and coal pits of about 1826, when the Oakley Iron Company was prospecting around Cowdenbeath for ironstone and found the coal seams more profitable. Lumphinnans coal was on sale at Cupar and Falkland Road stations on the Edinburgh and Northern Railway in 1848, and in March 1849 the seams of the Earl of Zetland's Lumphinnans estate were advertised to let for up to 31 years, the works having been opened twenty years before. RAILSCOT dates the colliery itself to 1852, opened beside the new Dunfermline branch by the Cowdenbeath Coal Company to supply ironstone to Lumphinnans Iron Works.

Adam Begg was lessee in 1833 and in 1842, when he said he employed nobody under fourteen. Alexander Christie was lessee from at least 1854 and built the Lumphinnans Iron Works on ground feued from the Earl; after his death in March 1859 the iron and coal works, with 23 years of the lease to run and a field of about 1,200 acres, were offered for sale in September 1860. The Lumphinnans Iron Company ran the pit from 1860, styled the Lumphinnans Iron and Coal Company by 1882, with Peter Cummings as manager from at least 1873. By 1887 it belonged to the Cowdenbeath Coal Company; a new Cowdenbeath Coal Company Limited was floated in August 1892, and the Fife Coal Company Ltd took control in 1896.

In 1873 the downcast shaft was 612 feet and the upcast 450 feet; ventilation was natural, then by furnace from 1874 and by a fan from 1882. By 1890 the downcast was 1,033 feet, and the pit is recorded as sunk to the Dunfermline Splint at 175 fathoms. The Splint and Parrot, Mynheer, Lochgelly Splint and Parrot, Five Feet, Fourteen Feet, Glassee, Jersey and Jewel coals were all worked. The pit employed 68 underground and 18 on the surface in 1874 and 263 and 58 in 1890. Until No. XI Pit was sunk in 1925, No. 1 was the main coal producer of Lumphinnans Colliery, and the two pits shared part of their ventilation.

Under the Fife Coal Company the pit employed 193 underground and 44 on the surface in 1928, 179 and 44 in 1938 and 131 and 51 in 1945. The National Coal Board took it over in 1947, when 100 and 32 were employed and it raised about 47,800 tons a year of gas, household and industrial coals; numbers rose to 148 and 30 in 1950 and 169 and 33 by 1953. The Dunfermline Press reported in January 1957 that the pit would close through normal exhaustion, output having fallen by 180 tons a day from a peak of 400. The last shift was worked on 25 January 1957 and most of the roughly 160 men went to Bowhill Colliery.

The Lochgelly Times recalled in 1957 that the Christie brothers had sunk the shaft to work ironstone and that the Cowdenbeath Coal Company acquired and developed it in 1881, which led to the growth of Lumphinnans village; two of its streets, Mungall Street and Sligo Street, are named after that company's proprietors. Fatal accidents at the pit include William Brown, killed by a fall of head coal at the face on 14 May 1868; Alexander Ross, caught between the cage and the roof of the workings while descending at the end of November 1881; and Alexander Foote, a brusher killed by a roof fall in September 1887. In August 1891 the cage carrying three repair men was overwound into the headgear and all three were hurt, one with a fractured skull.

Geology

Coal and ironstone of the Limestone Coal Formation. The Dunfermline Splint, Lochgelly Splint and Parrot, Mynheer, Five Feet, Fourteen Feet, Glassee, Jersey and Jewel coals were worked, with ironstone earlier. The Mynheer seam was 3 ft 2 in to 4 ft of coal under a thin bed of coaly blaes; the Glassee was about 4 ft 8 in thick; the deeper part of the Dunfermline Splint was apparently not worked until the 1920s. A report described the Blackband ironstone of the area as 2 ft thick and of second-class quality.

Workings

Two shafts, the downcast 612 feet and the upcast 450 feet deep in the 1870s, the downcast later reaching 1,033 feet. Ventilation was natural in 1873, by furnace from 1874 and by fan from 1882, and later partly shared with Lumphinnans Nos. 11 and 12. The shaft was sunk originally to work ironstone.

Closure

The pit closed on 25 January 1957. The National Coal Board gave normal exhaustion as the reason, with output down to about 180 tons a day from a peak of 400, and the roughly 160 men were found work at other collieries in the area, most at Bowhill.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Lumphinnans XI and XII Colliery — Both were Lumphinnans pits of the Cowdenbeath and Fife coal companies, No. 1 was the main producer until No. XI was sunk in 1925, their ventilation was partly shared and one abandonment plan covers both.

What's uncertain

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

• RAILSCOT gives 1852 as the year the colliery was opened beside the Dunfermline branch by the Cowdenbeath Coal Company, to supply ironstone to Lumphinnans Iron Works. (disputed) ²
• The Lochgelly Times reported in 1957 that the Christie brothers sank the shaft to work ironstone and that the Cowdenbeath Coal Company acquired and developed it in 1881. (disputed) ¹

Recorded claims

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

• The earliest workings at Lumphinnans No. 1 date from about 1826, when the Oakley Iron Company was prospecting for ironstone around Cowdenbeath. ^1,2,3
• RAILSCOT gives 1852 as the year the colliery was opened beside the Dunfermline branch by the Cowdenbeath Coal Company, to supply ironstone to Lumphinnans Iron Works. (disputed) ²
• Adam Begg was lessee in 1833 and 1842, and Alexander Christie was lessee from at least 1854; Christie's death was announced in March 1859. ¹
• In September 1860 the Lumphinnans iron and coal works, with 23 years of the lease from the Earl of Zetland to run and a field of about 1,200 acres, were offered for sale. ¹
• The Fife Coal Company Ltd took control of the colliery in 1896 from the Cowdenbeath Coal Company. ^1,2
• The Lochgelly Times reported in 1957 that the Christie brothers sank the shaft to work ironstone and that the Cowdenbeath Coal Company acquired and developed it in 1881. (disputed) ¹
• In 1873 the downcast shaft was 612 feet deep and the upcast 450 feet; by 1890 the downcast was 1,033 feet, and the pit is recorded as sunk to the Dunfermline Splint at 175 fathoms. ¹
• Employment at No. 1 was 68 underground and 18 on the surface in 1874, 263 and 58 in 1890, 193 and 44 in 1928, 100 and 32 in 1947, 148 and 30 in 1950 and 169 and 33 in 1955. ¹
• In 1947 the pit raised about 47,800 tons a year of gas, household and industrial coals. ¹
• Until the sinking of No. XI Pit in 1925, No. 1 Pit was the main coal producer of Lumphinnans Colliery. ^1,3
• The pit closed on 25 January 1957 through normal exhaustion, and about 160 men were transferred to other collieries, most to Bowhill. ^1,2
• William Brown was killed at the face in No. 1 Pit on 14 May 1868 when the head coal gave way. ¹
• In August 1891 the cage carrying three repair men was overwound into the headgear of No. 1 Pit and all three were injured. ¹
• Mungall Street and Sligo Street in Lumphinnans are named after proprietors of the Cowdenbeath Coal Company. ¹
• Lumphinnans Nos. 1 and 2 are listed among the collieries of the Fife Coal Company. ⁴
• The British Geological Survey catalogues an abandonment plan for Lumphinnans No 1 and XI. ⁵

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Fife Pits: Lumphinnans No. 1 Pit — Fife Pits
2. (secondary) RAILSCOT: Lumphinnans No 1 Colliery — RAILSCOT
3. (secondary) Scottish Cave and Mine Database: Lumphinnans Colliery — Grampian Speleological Group
4. (secondary) The Fife Coal Company: a short history (1922) — Scottish Mining Website
5. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority abandonment plans: LUMPHINNANS NO 1 AND XI — British Geological Survey

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