Archaeology Notes

Event ID 847851

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/847851

NT28NE 45 centred 2776 8945

Preparatory work on sinking a shaft to mine coal under the Forth began in 1954; production started in 1965 and ceased in 1988. Buildings by Egon Riss.

J Gifford 1988.

(Location cited as NT 2782 8964 - centred on No.1 winder). SEAFIELD Colliery

Location: south of Kirkcaldy

Previous Owners: National Coal Board

Sinking Commenced: 1954

Production Commenced: 1966

Year Closed: 1988

Year Abandoned: 1988

Average Workforce: 2,178

Peak Workforce: 2,466

Peak Year: 1970

Shaft/Mine Details: 2 shafts, each concrete lined and 7.3m diameter, with multi-rope electric friction winders mounted in concrete towers, each equipped with passenger lifts. No. 1 upcast, 642m deep and used for skip coal winding (NT 2782 8964), No. 2 downcast, 592m deep, and used for winding men and materials (NT 2782 8961), both being equipped by ASEA of Sweden. No. 1 Shaft had two winding engines with 'Ward Leonard' control systems, each having two 15-ton skips. No. 2 shaft had a double-decked cage and counterweight, each deck accommodating up to 55 men (i.e. 110 men at a time).

Other Details: One of Scotland's successful superpits, and famous for its prowess at incline mining (1 in 0.8). Spontaneous combustion problems were tackled by nitrogen injection into the 'wastes extracted area. Equipped with its own dense-medium coal preparation plant. Tragic accident in 1973 when a face collapse killed five and injured four men. Linked underground with Frances (NT39SW 25) by 1981. Just survived the miners strike of 1984, but closed four years later.

Two towers blown up and surface buildings cleared after closure.

M K Oglethorpe 2006.