Thornton Mine, Balbeggie

Overview

A small Fife Coal Company mine by Mid and Easter Balbeggie, between Kirkcaldy and Thornton, opened in 1945 in the Lower Dysart seam; under the National Coal Board it employed about ninety and in 1947 beat the Benarty surface mine's output per manshift before closing in 1953.

History

Thornton Mine lay west of the road from Gallatown to Thornton, almost midway between Kirkcaldy and Thornton and close to Mid and Easter Balbeggie. The Fife Coal Company opened it in 1945, when it employed four men underground and one on the surface under the manager John Clark, working the Lower Dysart seam for household and steam coal.

It passed to the National Coal Board in 1947, when 82 men worked underground and six above, and its output was put at about 51,900 tons a year. In the week ending 15 November 1947 its 86 men raised 70.52 hundredweight per manshift, beating the 68.97 hundredweight that had been the remarkable figure of the Benarty surface mine near Kelty. J. B. Fotheringham was manager from 1949, and by 1951 the mine employed 90 underground and 23 on the surface. It closed in January 1953. One of its surface buildings was afterwards turned into a house, and small businesses, caravan storage and motor repairs among them, used the site for some years.

Geology

Fife coalfield: the Lower Dysart seam, worked for household, industrial and steam coal.

Workings

A small mine in the Lower Dysart seam, employing up to 113 in 1951.

Closure

Closed in January 1953 under the National Coal Board.

What remains

A surface building was converted to housing after closure, and the site was used for some years for caravan storage and motor repairs.

Redevelopment

A surface building converted to housing; small business premises.

What's uncertain

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

• The National Coal Board's Fife list gives Thornton an opening date of 1900. (disputed) ²

Recorded claims

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

• Thornton Mine lay west of the Gallatown to Thornton road, almost midway between Kirkcaldy and Thornton, close to Mid and Easter Balbeggie. ¹
• Thornton Mine was opened by the Fife Coal Company in 1945 and closed in 1953. ¹
• Thornton, in Fife, appears among the National Coal Board's collieries with a closure in January 1953. ²
• The National Coal Board's Fife list gives Thornton an opening date of 1900. (disputed) ²
• In 1947 the mine employed 82 underground and 6 on the surface in the Lower Dysart seam, with an output of about 51,900 tons a year. ¹
• In the week ending 15 November 1947 Thornton Mine's 86 men produced 70.52 hundredweight per manshift, surpassing Benarty Surface Mine's 68.97. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Pit-T-1. Thornton Mine, Balbeggie — Fife Pits
2. (secondary) NCB Collieries - Scotland (Northern Mine Research Society) — Northern Mine Research Society

Record created: 5 October 2026 · Last researched: 6 October 2026