West Pitcorthie Shale Mines

Overview

Excavations begun on the farm of West Pitcorthie in 1866 for paraffin shale, ironstone and coal — the eastern-most working of true oil shale in Scotland. Two companies were at it within months, the ironstone was smelted on the ground and shipped from Anstruther, and the shale went to the Kilrenny Oil Works a short distance away. The whole venture ran in fits and starts for a decade and never prospered.

History

In February 1866 shale suitable for paraffin oil was advertised to lease in the Lands of Kellie, a short distance from the shipping ports of Pittenweem and Anstruther. By the end of May the Fife Herald could report that the new shale excavation at West Pitcorthie, about three miles from Anstruther, was in full operation: about a dozen retorts on ground extending to some five acres, an abundant yield of shale and ironstone, a good many hands employed and room for more — though the men were already 'making a movement for more wages, and threatening a strike'. A month later two companies were working the ground. A large quantity of ironstone had been smelted on site, and a cargo of it went out by the schooner Speculation to Newcastle — 'the first cargo of iron ore that we believe has ever been exported at Anstruther harbour'. The ironstone was worked by the St Andrews Coal and Iron Company, whose partners Robert Moyes and John Millar were declared bankrupt in 1868; the shale went to the Kilrenny Oil Works, built close by and run by Rowatt and Yooll. It went badly from early on. In January 1868 the Sheriff Criminal Court at Cupar heard that Thomas Baxter, mining manager at the Pitcorthie Shale Work, had failed to report an accident to a labourer named George Guthrie in No. 2 shale or ironstone pit within the twenty-four hours the law required — evidence in the case establishes two mines four or five hundred yards apart, No. 2 having been stopped for part of the previous summer. A month later the Fife Herald was describing 'another of those unfortunate hitches which have only been too frequent in the brief and seemingly unprosperous progress of the Pitcorthie shale mines and the Kilrenny oil works', with the mines idle for a fortnight and the mineral market dull. They reopened — one reopening was reckoned to put about eighty men to work across the two concerns — and stopped again; in August 1870 the local press reported that the shale and iron ore mines at Pitcorthie, stopped for several months, would be 'vigorously resumed after harvest by the lessees, Messrs Rowatt's and Yool of the Kilrenny Oil Works'. Alexander Graham Yooll was still working small shale, coal and ironstone mines in the district in 1873, and the No. 1 Kilrenny mine is listed as a shale mine in that year's record. In 1875 there were twelve men employed above ground and five below. Some working of ironstone continued after the oil works failed, through a mine and the Lady Erskine pit.

Geology

A narrow seam of true oil shale in the Calciferous Sandstone measures of eastern Fife — the easternmost such working in Scotland, far from the West Lothian ground the industry was built on — with reserves of ironstone and coal in the same sequence. The coal, known as the Pitcorthie Coal, was described as coarse and dirty and was one of the few coals in the Calciferous Sandstones of Fife then worked commercially; it was got close to the oil works and burned in its furnaces.

Geological setting: Sedimentary Beds and Seams (well documented example)

Workings

At least two mines, four or five hundred yards apart, referred to as No. 1 and No. 2 shale or ironstone pits, together with the Kilrenny pit — a shallow working of only some eighteen feet which also took the Pitcorthie Coal — and later the Lady Erskine pit on the ironstone. Retorts were erected on the ground itself at the outset, before the Kilrenny works took over the retorting.

Closure

No closure date has been established. Working was intermittent throughout: stoppages in 1868 and again before August 1870, mines still returned in 1873 and 1875, and ironstone worked on after the oil works had failed.

What remains

Disturbed ground at West Pitcorthie and at Muiredge, photographed in February 2012 by the Museum of the Scottish Shale Oil Industry, one area of which may be the site of the Lady Erskine pit. Nothing is described as standing.

Disturbed ground and spoil; the red spent shale mounds nearby belong to the oil works rather than the mines. Nothing read for this record describes a standing structure.

Related mines

• Kilrenny Oil Works — The works and the mines that fed it: Kilrenny Oil Works was built in 1866 close to the shale workings at West Pitcorthie, both were run by the same men, and the press of the day reported their stoppages and restarts as a single concern.

Nearby mines

• Kilrenny Oil Works — 1.0 km S

Straight-line distance, within 15 km. Show on the map.

Recorded claims

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

• Mining activity at Pitcorthie, about three miles north of Anstruther, represented the easternmost working of true oil shale in Scotland: a narrow seam of oil shale was mined along with reserves of ironstone and coal. ¹
• The new shale excavation at West Pitcorthie was in full operation by the end of May 1866, with about a dozen retorts erected on ground extending to some five acres, an abundant yield of shale and ironstone, and the men already agitating for higher wages and threatening a strike. ¹
• A large quantity of ironstone was smelted on the ground at Pitcorthie in June 1866 and a cargo shipped by the schooner Speculation to Newcastle — the first cargo of iron ore believed ever to have been exported from Anstruther harbour. ¹
• Thomas Baxter, agent or mining manager at the Pitcorthie Shale Work, was charged at the Sheriff Criminal Court in January 1868 with failing to report within twenty-four hours an accident to George Guthrie, a labourer in No. 2 shale or ironstone pit; evidence established that the works comprised two mines four or five hundred yards apart, worked by the St Andrews Coal and Iron Company. ¹
• In August 1870 the local press reported that the shale and iron ore mines at Pitcorthie, stopped for several months past, would be vigorously resumed after harvest by the lessees, Messrs Rowatt's and Yool of the Kilrenny Oil Works. ²
• A. Graham Yooll was operating small shale, coal and ironstone mines near West Pitcorthie in 1873, the No. 1 Kilrenny mine being listed as a shale mine in that year's record; in 1875 twelve men were employed above ground and five below, and the Kilrenny pit is described as a shallow working of only eighteen feet which also wrought the Pitcorthie Coal. ³

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Kilrenny Oil Works — with the Pitcorthie mines and contemporary press notices — Museum of the Scottish Shale Oil Industry
2. (secondary) The Cellardyke Echo, issue 402 — transcribed local press, including the 1870 notice of the Pitcorthie shale and iron mines — The Cellardyke Trust
3. (secondary) Kilrenny Pit, near Anstruther — Fife Pits (Michael Martin)

Record created: 2 September 2026 · Last researched: 6 September 2026