Saline Valley Colliery

Overview

A West Fife colliery at Steelend, Sunnybraes and Saline, begun as the Sunnybraes pit in 1890, worked by the Saline Valley Coal Company and from 1900 the West of Fife Coal Company, and closed in 1912; it was redeveloped in 1929 as Dean Valley Colliery, which closed in 1932.

History

The Steelend, Saline and Sunnybraes district was worked for ironstone and coal from early times by many owners, and the renaming and renumbering of its pits makes it hard to research. The Sunnybraes Colliery was begun about 1890: the Dunfermline Saturday Press reported in September 1890 that leases had been taken of the lands of Kinneddar and Blair, and in December that the pit being sunk at Sunnybraes had reached the Lochgelly splint and parrot seam in excellent condition, with the Mynheer, Five Feet and Dunfermline Splint seams proved good. In 1890 James Eaglesham managed it with 11 men underground and 4 above, working the Eight Feet coal, and No. 1 Pit may have closed about then. By 1895 the farms of Killarnie, Sunnybraes and Steelend belonged to Watson Kirkham Drysdale, and the Saline Valley Colliery held the lease, No. 1 Pit standing in a field on Sunnybraes farm and unused for four years.

In 1896 the Saline Valley Coal Company employed 52 men underground and 9 on the surface under Thomas Rigg, after the death of the managing partner James Eaglesham that April. A new company, the West of Fife Coal Company, was formed in 1900 to take over the Saline Valley operations and Townhill Colliery. Employment was 89 underground and 30 on the surface in 1902 under Thomas Borland, 93 and 46 in 1904 under D. M. Arbuckle, 61 and 34 in 1905 and 111 and 29 in 1908 under John Clemenson. The Scottish Mining Website records Samuel Ramage, a miner from Longfaulds, Saline, killed by a large fall from the roof at Sunnybraes Colliery in October 1903.

The Ordnance Survey of 1896 shows the Saline Valley Colliery as Pits 1 to 4, with No. 1 marked disused and No. 2 joined to the main railway by a long branch; by the revision of 1915 only the Lethans pit, No. 2, remained. Saline Valley Colliery at Steelend closed in 1912. In 1929 Kingseat Company Ltd redeveloped it as Dean Valley Colliery, which closed in 1932. The Five Feet and Dunfermline Splint seams were abandoned in December 1902, the Six Feet in July 1902 and the Jersey or Four Feet in April 1929.

Geology

Coal and ironstone of the Limestone Coal Formation. The Eight Feet coal, the Lochgelly splint and parrot, the Mynheer, the Five Feet and the Dunfermline Splint were proved or worked; abandonment plans name the No. 4 or Five Feet and No. 5 or Dunfermline Splint seams, the Six Feet, and the Jersey or Four Feet, and a Three Feet and gas seam proved but not worked.

Workings

Four pits on the hillside above Steelend: Saline Valley Colliery Nos. 1 to 4, also recorded as the Sunnybraes pits, with tramways between them and a long branch railway joining No. 2 to the main line; in 1890 steam ventilation was not yet in use and the Eight Feet coal was the seam worked.

Closure

The Saline Valley Colliery at Steelend closed in 1912. It was redeveloped as Dean Valley Colliery in 1929, which closed in 1932.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Redeveloped in 1929 as Dean Valley Colliery.

Related mines

• Kingseat Colliery — The Kingseat Company Ltd, which owned Kingseat Colliery, redeveloped the Saline Valley Colliery as Dean Valley Colliery in 1929.
• Lethans Colliery — Saline Valley Colliery, the West of Fife Coal Company's operation, lay just north of the older Lethans collieries on which the Wilsons and Clyde pits were later opened.
• North Steelend Colliery — Fife Pits' abandonment plans treat 'Steelend North or Dean Valley' as part of the Sunnybraes or Saline Valley workings, and the Dean Valley name was given to the Saline Valley Colliery's 1929 redevelopment.

Recorded claims

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

• In 1890 a pit at Sunnybraes near Saline was being sunk by a new venture that reached the Lochgelly splint and parrot seam in December 1890. ¹
• James Eaglesham managed the Sunnybraes Colliery in 1890 with 11 men underground and 4 on the surface, working the Eight Feet coal. ¹
• In 1895 the farms of Killarnie, Sunnybraes and Steelend belonged to Watson Kirkham Drysdale and the Saline Valley Colliery held the lease to work the minerals. ¹
• The West of Fife Coal Company was formed in 1900 to take over the Saline Valley operations and Townhill Colliery. ¹
• Employment at Saline Valley was 52 underground and 9 on the surface in 1896, 89 and 30 in 1902, 93 and 46 in 1904 and 111 and 29 in 1908. ¹
• Saline Valley Colliery at Steelend closed in 1912; it was redeveloped as Dean Valley Colliery in 1929, which closed in 1932. ¹
• The 1896 Ordnance Survey shows the Saline Valley Colliery as Pits 1 to 4, and by the 1915 revision only the Lethans pit remained. ²
• The miner Samuel Ramage was killed by a large fall from the roof at Sunnybraes Colliery, Saline, in October 1903, when it was worked by the West of Fife Coal Company. ³
• The British Geological Survey catalogues abandonment plans for Saline Valley, Saline Valley (Lethans) and Sunnybraes or Saline Valley, and a sketch of ironstone workings in Sunnybraes and South Steelend, 1855-1859. ⁴

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Fife Pits: Saline Valley (Sunnybraes) Colliery — Fife Pits
2. (secondary) Scottish Cave and Mine Database: Saline Valley Colliery Pit No.1 — Grampian Speleological Group
3. (secondary) Fife Accidents 1901 to 1914 (Scottish Mining Website) — Scottish Mining Website
4. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority abandonment plans: SUNNYBRAES OR SALINE VALLEY — British Geological Survey

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