Culross, The Moat, Coal Shaft
Coal Mining Site (Period Unassigned), Shaft (Period Unassigned)
Site Name Culross, The Moat, Coal Shaft
Classification Coal Mining Site (Period Unassigned), Shaft (Period Unassigned)
Alternative Name(s) Moat Pit
Canmore ID 48064
Site Number NS98NE 9
NGR NS 98036 85413
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/48064
- Council Fife
- Parish Culross
- Former Region Fife
- Former District Dunfermline
- Former County Fife
NS98NE 9 9820 8541
(Name: NS 9820 8541) The Moat (NR)
(17th Century Coal Shaft) (NAT)
OS 6" map, (1967)
The Moat was an entrance to a coal pit built by Sir George Bruce at the beginning of the 17th century. It was a shaft sunk in the sea a short distance below high water mark, encased with three concrete walls which rose above the surface of the water. It was visited in 1617 by James Vl, but later the same year was destroyed by a storm and never used again. About 1790 the stones from the walls were taken to Leith to build the pier there. A heap of stones is all that can be seen, at low tide. (Name Book 1859)
Name Book 1859; A Jervise 1859; A W Hallen 1878; D Beveridge 1885.
Site recorded by Maritime Fife during the Coastal Assessment Survey for Historic Scotland, Kincardine to Fife Ness 1996.
MS/2307/2.
The remains of the Moat Pit is situated just below the high water mark on the foreshore at Culross. Sunk in the 17th century, it comprises a stone-lined shaft protected from the sea by a substantial breakwater, all now reduced to the lower courses. Circular on plan, the breakwater measures 15.2m in overall diameter and is faced externally with rough blocks that lie back into the rubble fill behind. The mouth of the shaft lies at the centre and measure 4.2m in internal diameter. Its stone lining is constructed as a freestanding wall some 0.85m in thickness and still stands at last 0.8m high in three courses. The lower courses comprise two skins of closely fitting blocks, whereas the uppermost, only surviving in the NE, is a tie course made up of single slabs 0.9m in length laid across the thickness of the wall.
The mine worked the Upper Hirst coal seam and was presumably interconnected with other shafts and galleries operated on the shore. When it was operational, the breakwater would have stood considerably more than the 4.8m (15 feet 9 inches) in height needed to ensure the mouth of the shaft cleared the high tide, and would have provided a working platform for loading sailing ships with coal and for ventilation and pumping. It is noted that Sir George Bruce appears to have installed a pump comprising wooden buckets on a continuous chain suspended from a windlass at the mouth of the shaft. It was probably deliberately demolished during the 17th to 19th centuries for building materials and it is also possible that some of the rubble from the breakwater was used to block the shaft after it was abandoned due to severe flood damage in 1625.
Nearby sit two roughed-out mill stones which measure about 1.0m in diameter. They are possibly dumped ballast from a ship.
Visited by RCAHMS (MMD/SH), 30 May 2008.
Field Visit (30 May 2008)
Situated on the foreshore of the Firth of Forth at Culross just below high water mark, there lie the robbed and marine eroded remains of the 17th century AD coal shaft historically known as the 'Moat Pit'. This consists of two concentric rings of masonry with rubble fill between the inner face of the outer masonry wall and the outer face of the inner masonry that would have provided a bund and working platform. The inner ring of masonry indicates the extent of the shaft and measures 4.2m in diameter within a wall 1.7m in thickness and upto 0.8m in height to the NE. There are four visible courses, the lower three of which consist of two skins of closely fitting masonry blocks. The uppermost course consists of single slabs 0.9m in length laid across the thickness of the wall.
The outer ring of masonry measures 15.2m in overall diameter. This external wall, in contrast with the inner, has a more jagged internal face presumably to strengthen the bond between the inner rubble core by increasing the surface area. The WSW area of the structure is the most affected by sea erosion, although the structure was probably robbed of stone throughout the 17th , 18th and 19th centuries. There is also a possibility that the rubble bund infill was used to block the shaft when abandoned. The mine worked the Upper Hirst coal seam.
Visited by RCAHMS (MMD/SPH) 30 May 2008.
RCAHMS graphic survey nor photography was carried out because of the access problems to the site regarding tides and the problem of getting equipment to the site.
Archaeological Evaluation (11 August 2009 - 8 October 2009)
NS 98005 85377 A programme of surveying was undertaken 11 August–8 October 2009 as part of an ongoing study of the Moat Pit and other related mine workings. The work focused on the surviving upstanding remains of the Moat Pit which lie some 400m into the tidal flats to the S of Culross in the Firth of Forth. A detailed geo-referenced survey of the surviving exposed remains of the Moat Pit and a photographic survey of the Moat Pit and related structures were produced.
Archive: RCAHMS. Report: Fife Archaeology Unit
Funder: Fife Council
Alan Matthews and Claire Williamson – Rathmell Archaeology Limited
The archaeological works provided a detailed survey of the surviving remains of the Moat Pit, a drawn plan and a photographic survey of the Moat Pit and related structures. The archaeological works have demonstrated the potential for understanding the form and function of the Moat Pit by closer examination of the surviving remains. However, further cleaning and survey is required in order to form a complete picture of the Moat Pit. Certain issues have been raised by the work done here with targeted cleaning and additional recording could clarify.
Information from Oasis (rathmell1-62937) 26 March 2013
