Victoria Pit, West Wemyss

Overview

The Wemyss estate's No. 7 pit on the shore beside West Wemyss harbour, sunk to 72½ fathoms about 1824 and renamed the Victoria, which worked the Bowhouse and Dysart Main coals, was joined to the Hugo and Lochhead pits and remained open into the 1960s, its shaft ventilating Lochhead.

History

The Wemyss No. 7 Pit is believed to have been sunk to 72½ fathoms about 1824 on the shore of the Firth of Forth very close to the harbour at West Wemyss, and was renamed the Victoria in 1837. Before 1856 the Victoria and Barcraig pits, west and east of the small harbour, were joined to it by short tramways. The sinking passed the Wemyss Parrot coal at 23 fathoms, the Wood coal at 28½, Earl David's Parrot at 39½, the Bowhouse at 52 and the More coal at 72½; the Bowhouse, found at 7 feet of coal in the Victoria, was the seam worked through the 1870s, and in 1890 the Dysart Main. In 1835 the mining engineer David Landale wrote that four steam engines were at work on the site, equal to about 172 horses. A survey of Kirkcaldy's industries gives the Victoria Pit 130 tons of the Wemyss Colliery's 250 tons a day from two pits, the other being the Lady Pit.

The pit was owned by R. G. E. Wemyss and, from 1896, by the Wemyss Coal Company Ltd, and then by the National Coal Board. William Carey was manager through the 1870s and Andrew Crookston from 1881, with Hugh Meikle under him in 1896. It was connected to the Hugo Pit by a tunnel in 1875, and after the Lady Pit was stopped in 1902 its output came up the Victoria shaft. Around 1910 the Victoria's coal began to be raised at the linked Lochhead Pit to the north, and the pits worked closely together from about 1915 to 1924, the Victoria's coals being stored at the Hugo depot. The pit was electrified by October 1935 and stayed open into the 1960s, its shaft serving as part of the ventilation and escape system of Lochhead. Manpower figures for the Victoria include the other Wemyss pits: 497 underground and 65 on the surface in 1904 with Lochhead, 938 and 127 in 1911, 718 and 134 in 1920, 327 and 115 in 1945 and 376 and 73 in 1961.

On 29 December 1907 the Victoria shaft was the scene of the deaths of two men sent to look for the fireman John Kilpatrick after an underground fire in the old Duncan's workings; the rescue earned the Dryburghs the Edward Medal (see the Lochhead Colliery record and its Disasters section).

Geology

Sunk through the Wemyss Parrot, Wood, Earl David's Parrot and Bowhouse coals to the More coal at 72½ fathoms; the Bowhouse seam was 7 ft of coal in the Victoria, and later work took the Dysart Main, the Mangie, the Lower Dysart and the Branxton coals.

Workings

Workings spread out under the Firth of Forth and were subject to flooding; connected to the Hugo Pit by a tunnel in 1875 and to Lochhead, where the Victoria's coal was raised from around 1910.

Closure

Open into the 1960s; its shaft was kept as part of the ventilation and escape system of the Lochhead Pit.

What remains

A mosaic artwork made by West Wemyss Development Trust with the local school marks the old entrance to the pit.

A mosaic of swans stands at the old entrance to the pit.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Hugo Pit, Coaltown of Wemyss — The Hugo was joined to the Victoria Pit by an underground tunnel about 1875 and its depot held the Victoria's coal.
• Lochhead Colliery — The Victoria and Lochhead pits were linked underground by a haulage road, and Victoria's coal was raised at Lochhead from about 1910.

Recorded claims

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

• The Wemyss No. 7 Pit is believed to have been sunk to 72½ fathoms about 1824 on the shore of the Firth of Forth very close to the harbour at West Wemyss. ¹
• The No. 7 Pit was renamed the Victoria in 1837. ^1,2
• Before 1856 the Victoria and Barcraig pits, respectively west and east of the small harbour at West Wemyss, were connected to it by short tramways. ³
• In 1835 David Landale wrote that four steam engines worked at the site, about equal to 172 horse power. ¹
• Sinking passed the Wemyss Parrot, Wood, Earl David's Parrot and Bowhouse coals to the More coal at 72½ fathoms, and the Bowhouse seam in the Victoria included 7 feet of coal. ¹
• The Victoria was connected to the Hugo Pit by a tunnel in 1875. ¹
• A survey of Kirkcaldy's industries gives the Victoria Pit 130 tons of the Wemyss Colliery's 250 tons a day, the other 120 tons coming from the Lady Pit. ⁴
• After the Lady Pit was stopped in 1902 its output came up the Victoria shaft; around 1910 the Victoria's coal began to be raised at Lochhead instead, and the shaft later ventilated Lochhead. ¹
• The Victoria Pit was completely electrified by October 1935 and stayed open into the 1960s. ¹
• The Victoria shaft lay about 2,700 yards from the Lochhead shaft, close to the Firth of Forth at West Wemyss where there was a dock for loading coal, joined to Lochhead by a haulage road through stone mines. ⁵

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Fife Pits: Victoria (Wemyss No. 7) Pit — Fife Pits
2. (secondary) Fife Pits: Wemyss Colliery — Fife Pits
3. (secondary) Wemyss Private Railway — Wikipedia
4. (secondary) Miscellaneous Fife Information (Scottish Mining Website) — Scottish Mining Website
5. (secondary) Lochhead 1907 (Scottish Mining Website) — Scottish Mining Website

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