Lumphinnans XI and XII Colliery

Overview

The Fife Coal Company's Lumphinnans Nos. XI and XII, the 'Peeweep', near Kelty, whose 410-metre No. XI shaft raised house, steam and navigation coal, with a peak of 764 people in 1947, until it closed in 1966.

History

Lumphinnans Nos. XI and XII, also called the Peewit or Peeweep, stood near Kelty in Beath parish, Fife. Its earlier owner, the Cowdenbeath Coal Company, was taken over by the Fife Coal Company in 1896, and production had begun before that year. The No. XI shaft is 410 metres deep and the No. XII, sunk in 1924, 169 metres. The pit raised house, steam and navigation coal and ironstone; the Fife Coal Company's own history calls out the considerable stretches of navigation coal worked at No. 11 Pit, Lumphinnans.

A washery was built in 1928 and baths in 1933. In 1946 underground transport was being rebuilt with two-ton drop-bottom mine cars and locomotive and direct-rope haulage, and a new surface mine was being developed to replace the No. XI shaft, with a conveyor direct to the screening plant; the National Coal Board continued the reconstruction in the 1950s. In 1948 the pit raised 1,050 tons a day, 262,500 tons a year, with 794 employees, a Baum washer, baths, a canteen and first-aid facilities, and electricity from the National Coal Board's Aitken power station. The average workforce was 596 and the peak, 764, came in 1947.

The colliery closed in 1966 and was abandoned in 1968.

Geology

House, steam and navigation coal and ironstone were worked; considerable stretches of navigation coal were worked at No. 11 Pit.

Workings

Two shafts: No. XI, 410 metres deep, and No. XII, 169 metres, sunk in 1924. A new surface mine was begun in 1946 to replace the No. XI shaft, and the underground transport was rebuilt with locomotive and direct-rope haulage.

Closure

The colliery closed in 1966 and was abandoned in 1968.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Lumphinnans No 1 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.

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, taken over by the Fife Coal Company in 1896, was the pit's earlier owner, and production began before 1896. ¹
• The No. XI shaft is 410 metres deep and the No. XII, sunk in 1924, 169 metres. ¹
• The average workforce was 596 and the peak, 764, came in 1947. ¹
• In 1948 the colliery raised 1,050 tons a day, 262,500 tons a year, with 794 employees. ¹
• The colliery closed in 1966 and was abandoned in 1968. ¹
• A washery was built in 1928 and baths in 1933. ¹
• Considerable stretches of navigation coal were worked at No. 11 Pit, Lumphinnans. ²
• The British Geological Survey catalogues abandonment plans for Lumphinnans No. XI. ³

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Lumphinnans Colliery (Canmore / trove.scot) — Historic Environment Scotland (Canmore)
2. (secondary) The Fife Coal Company: a short history (1922) — Scottish Mining Website
3. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority abandonment plans: LUMPHINNANS NO XI — British Geological Survey

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