Description

The monument comprises the well-preserved remains of a beam engine house which served the small colliery at Kilmux from 1838.

At this date, after 50 years of working coal seams near the surface, a pit was sunk to a depth of 54 fathoms and a 47-horse-power beam engine installed to pump water from the mine. This technological development increased the productivity of the colliery, which thereafter employed 40-50 colliers, enabling it to continue supplying steam and house coal to inland areas of Fife.

The building is now roofless with the walls standing to their full height. The S, E and W walls are of squared, coursed rubble construction with ashlar quoins and ashlar facings around the openings: the N wall, which incorporates the large, arched aperture through which the beam protruded to connect with the pump rods of the mine shaft, is of dressed stone throughout. The footings of ancillary structures are visible to the immediate W and S of the building while to the S, adjacent to the field boundary, stand the footings of 2 cottages.

The area to be scheduled is irregular on plan with maximum dimensions of 50m N-S by 70m E-W to include the remains of the beam engine house and the above associated features. The area is circumscribed by a boundary which, from its N-most point (at the junction of the track with the Lethan Burn), runs in a clockwise direction as follows: along the S side of the track for 100m to the latter's junction with the hedge which forms the field boundary running parallel to the A916; from here, along the N side of the hedge for 40 m until that hedge meets the Lethan Burn; then following the line of the N bank of the burn for 70m to meet the starting point, all as marked in red on the accompanying map extract.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance as a fine example of a beam engine house and associated features which together have the potential to increase our knowledge and understanding of small-scale coal mining in Fife and the industrial architecture of mid 19th-century Scotland.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as NO 30 SE 60.

Reference:

GUARD (1995) Kilmux Archaeological Assessment, report No. 234.

Muir, A. (1953) The Fife Coal Company Ltd: a short history, 44.

New Statistical Account, Fife, Vol. 9, 384.

Stenphen, Walter, M. (1975) Industrial Archaeology of Fife 1790-1914, 156, Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Strathclyde.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland