Muircockhall Colliery

Overview

A Townhill colliery north of Dunfermline begun in 1868 by the West of Fife Coal Company on burgh minerals, taken over by Henry Ness and Company about 1889, sunk to 105 and 150 fathoms for the Dunfermline Splint, and stopped raising coal in December 1944; it was then a National Coal Board training centre until 1969.

History

The Muircockhall Nos. 1 and 2 pits stood at the north-east corner of Townhill Wood, north of Dunfermline and half a mile west of the Eliza Pit of Halbeath Colliery. In 1868 the West of Fife Coal Company began working the Dunfermline Burgh minerals at Muircockhall, and the Townhill mineral field was then being worked at every point; the population of Townhill rose from 855 in 1871 to 1,862 in 1881. A writer of 1889 said the first pits were sunk to the splint coal about eighteen years before but met foul coal that could not be sold, and the No. 2 dook flooded when neighbouring pits stopped.

In 1873 No. 1 had a downcast of 552 feet and No. 2 of 612. Henry Ness was manager for ten years until June 1883, when he left to be managing partner at Benarty Colliery, and in 1884 Robert Andrews of Halbeath took over. The company lost money on Muircockhall, and Henry Ness and Company bought the colliery and buildings about 1889; it then sank pits to 105 and 150 fathoms to reach the Dunfermline Splint. Output averaged 80,000 tons a year in the 1890s and 100,000 tons in 1898 to 1902.

Employment under Henry Ness and Company was 63 underground in 1896, 76 in 1905, 159 in 1918 and 259 in 1920, falling to 127 in 1928 and rising to 222 in 1938. James Erskine was manager from 1919 to 1940. The colliery ceased coal production in December 1944 and was kept by the National Coal Board as a mining training centre, with 12 to 22 men on the books in the early 1950s, until 1969. The site of a burning bing and an old shaft plugged with debris have been photographed there.

Geology

Coal of the Dunfermline area. The Splint and Five Feet seams were worked first from Nos. 1 and 2; later the Six Feet (5 ft 6 in), Cairncubie (3 ft 6 in), Three Feet (3 ft) and Eight Feet (4 ft 6 in) coals, the Swallowdrum with six inches of gas coal on its floor, and the Fourteen Feet and Ell.

Workings

Nos. 1 and 2 pits, No. 1 with a downcast of 552 feet and No. 2 of 612 feet in 1873, later sunk by Henry Ness and Company to 105 and 150 fathoms; the West of Fife Mineral Railway served the colliery.

Closure

Coal raising ceased in December 1944; the National Coal Board kept the colliery as a training centre until 1969.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Kept as a National Coal Board mining training centre from 1947 until 1969.

Related mines

• Benarty Colliery — Henry Ness managed Muircockhall and, leaving it in June 1883, became managing partner at Benarty Colliery, and his company's Ness's Mine worked beside the Benarty pit.
• Townhill Colliery — Both worked the burgh of Dunfermline's minerals at Townhill, the West of Fife Coal Company ran both, and the Townhill mineral field was worked 'at every point' in the 1870s.

Recorded claims

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

• In 1868 the West of Fife Coal Company began operations on the Dunfermline Burgh minerals at Muircockhall. ¹
• Henry Ness and Company took over Muircockhall about 1889 and sank pits to 105 and 150 fathoms to reach the Dunfermline Splint. ^1,2
• Output averaged 80,000 tons a year in the 1890s and 100,000 tons a year between 1898 and 1902. ¹
• In 1873 Muircockhall No. 1 had a downcast of 552 feet and No. 2 a downcast of 612 feet. ¹
• Employment was 63 underground in 1896, 76 in 1905, 259 in 1920, 127 in 1928 and 222 in 1938. ¹
• Muircockhall ceased coal production in December 1944, and Canmore and Fife Pits record it retained by the National Coal Board as a training centre until 1969. ^1,3,2
• Muircockhall Colliery was served by the West of Fife Mineral Railway. ³
• The population of Townhill was 855 in 1871 and 1,862 in 1881, the Townhill field then being worked at every point. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Fife Pits: Muircockhall Colliery, Townhill — Fife Pits
2. (secondary) Dunfermline, Townhill, Muircockhall Colliery (Canmore) — Canmore (Historic Environment Scotland)
3. (secondary) RAILSCOT: Muircockhall Colliery — RAILSCOT

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