Owners: Bowman and Co., Buckhaven
Wemyss Coal Co., Ltd.
NCB
The Rosie Nos. 1, 2 Pits were located between East Wemyss and Buckhaven close to the A955, the main coastal route from Kirkcaldy to Leven, and not far from the ruins of Macduff's Castle. Sinking commenced in 1880 to strike the Chemiss Coal seam at 100 fathoms. By 1927, conveyors were put in to replace most of the older rope haulage systems at the colliery which was in operation until December, 1953.
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Displayed Courtesy of
Methil Heritage Centre |
| Malcolm
Welsh wrote on 24 September, 2001
"Hello, I was delighted to see your reference to the Rosie in which my father (William Welsh better known as 'Wullie') was pit-head foreman from around 1938/9 to 1953 when the pit closed. Wullie Welsh was well known in the area during the thirties, forties and fifties, particularly in Buckhaven and West Wemyss, for his prowess as a musician - he played banjo and dulcimer. He ran a dance band, as well as working often seven days a week, and was in great demand. The Rosie Tavern was, of course, a busy place then with miners thirsting for a pint after a long hard and often dangerous shift. The Tavern stood on the opposite side of the main road and about 200 yards to the east of the colliery main entrance. Although the pit closed in 1953, the Rosie village gradually declined as miners moved away and old miners' houses were demolished and the land cleared of any evidence of the once thriving and busy community that was. The pub survived for many years and indeed was a popular venue for the Saturday night sing-song. However, on my last visit to the area this year the pub was no more and the building housed a car mechanic workshop. This, along with a bungalow opposite which was the former home of the last general manager of the Rosie pit (Bob Mercer), is the only reminder of the Rosie's existence. Rosie pit-manager Bob Mercer, whom I can recall from the expletives my father would use to describe him, was indeed a hard taskmaster. However, off duty (which was a rarity) he was indeed a charming man. In later years our family kept in touch with the Mercer family, the last of which settled in Jersey (Bob Mercer's daughter) whom we visited before her death about ten years ago. I myself worked briefly underground at the Wellesley and attended the Buckhaven Mining College. My childhood memories of the Rosie and the pit (where I was given a tour more than once) and that era are as vivid today as they were then and it has been a pleasure to recall a few. I now live in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, and am now retired but we have just bought a little holiday home in Anstruther so I can go back to good old Fife as often as I like. Good luck with you researches and if I can be of any more help, please e-mail me." Kind regards, Malcolm |
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Rosie Colliery, Buckhaven
| Pit opened: 1880-81 | Pit closed: December, 1953 |
|---|---|
| Source Date of Information Supplied | |
| Manager / Under-Manager / Men underground / Men above ground / Coals seams worked / Shaft Details | |
| 1881 (Bowman & Co.) | |
| No. 1:
Archibald Bowman / ---------- / 112 * / 19 * / Chemiss,
7' to 10' / D'cast (17½ x 9) 600 ft. :
U'cast -----
No. 2: Archibald Bowman / ---------- / * shared / * shared / 8 feet, 5' 6" / D'cast ---- : U'cast (12½ x 9) 600 ft. Ventilation - exhaust steam and water fall. |
|
| 1882 (Bowman & Co.) | |
| Archibald
Bowman / ---------- / 191 / 32 / No. 1 - Eight feet,
5' ; Chemiss 10'
D'cast (17½ x 9) 600 ft. : U'cast (12½ x 9) 600 ft. Ventilation by steam. |
|
| 1890 (Bowman & Co.) | |
| Nos. 1,
2: Archibald Bowman / ---------- / 290 / 50 /
Chemiss, Eight Foot
D'cast (17 x 9) 600 ft. : U'cast (12 x 9) 594 ft. Ventilation by steam pipes. |
|
| 1896 (Bowman & Co.) | |
| Archibald Bowman / ---------- / 255 / 40 / Household, manufacturing and steam coals. | |
| 1902 (Bowman & Co.) | |
| Archibald Bowman / Josiah Lyall / 396 / 55 / Household, manufacturing and steam coals. | |
| 1904 (Bowman & Co.) | |
| Archibald Bowman / ------ / 379 / 54 / Household, manufacturing and steam coals. | |
| 1905 (Wemyss Coal Co. Ltd) | |
| ------------ / ------ / 318 / 44 | |
| 1908 (Wemyss Coal Co. Ltd.) | |
| Josiah Lyall / James Frame / 447 / 56 | |
| 1911 (Wemyss Coal Co. Ltd.) | |
| ------------ / ------- / 680 / 70 | |
| 1918 (Wemyss Coal Co. Ltd.) | |
| Alexander Ross / No. 1 Pit: David Webster / 270 / 66 | |
| 1920 (Wemyss Coal Co. Ltd.) | |
| Manpower: 319 / 66 | |
| 1928 (Wemyss Coal Co. Ltd.) | |
| Archibald Sharp / Andrew Thomson (No. 1 Pit) : Henry Dewar (No. 2 Pit) / 484 / 91 | |
| Household, steam coals and fireclay. Eight Feet and Six Feet. | |
| 1938 (Wemyss Coal Co. Ltd.) | |
| R. C. Mercer / David Shaw / 565 / 94 | |
| 1945 (Wemyss Coal Co. Ltd.) | |
| R. C. Mercer / ------------ / 247 / 50 | |
| Household coal and blaes. Chemiss and Coxtool. (By this time, the Rosie was mainly a blaes mine.) | |
| 1947 (N.C.B.) | |
| R. C. Mercer / ------------ / 252 / 54 | |
| Household coals. Approx. annual output = 83,200 tons | |
| 1948 (N.C.B.) | |
| R. C. Mercer / ------------ / 252 / 58 | |
| Household coal and blaes. Chemiss and Coxtool. | |
| 1949 (N.C.B.) | |
| R. Mercer / ------------ / 252 / 54 | |
| Household
coal. Chemiss and Coxtool.
System of ventilation partly in common with Wellesley. |
|
| 1950 (N.C.B.) | |
| R. Mercer / ------------ / 264 / 55 | |
| Household
coal. Coxtool.
System of ventilation partly in common with Wellesley. |
|
| 1951 (N.C.B.) | |
| R. Mercer / ------------ / 272 / 50 | |
| Household
coal. Coxtool.
System of ventilation partly in common with Wellesley. |
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| The Rosie Pit had a system of ventilation partly in common with Wellesley, Muiredge, Lochhead and Michael Collieries. | |
| Please see Stories Link: Bowman Story, for information on the Bowman family and the association with Buckhaven collieries. |
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Rosie Colliery (19th century report)
| Name of Coal | Thickness | Quality | Class | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eight Feet Coal | 5 ft. to 6 ft. | Splint and Cherry | Household and Steam | ||
| Six Feet Coal | 6 ft. | Splint and Cherry | Steam | ||
| Chemiss | 7 ft. to 8 ft.
8 ft. to 9 ft. |
> | Splint and
Free |
> | Household and Steam |
| > | > | ||||
| Parrot Coal | 1 ft. 6 in. to 2 ft. 6 in. | Ironstone and Cannel | Gas Coal | ||
| Dysart Main Coal | 9 ft. to 10 ft. | Cherry and Splint | Household and Steam |
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Information on coals worked at, or near, the Rosie Pit, Buckhaven
(based on a report from 1900)
The Chemiss Coal had a thickness of 9 ft. and lay between
a shale pavement and roof. When landward seams became
exhausted, the coal was worked under the River Forth. The
level driven in it in the workings at Wemyss lay 90 fms.
below the high-water mark.
At the Rosie Colliery, half-way between East Wemyss and
Buckhaven, the seam was found at a depth of 98 fathoms,
dipping towards E.S.E. at 10o.
North of the Earl's Seat - Buckhaven fault, this seam
was worked in the strip of ground that intervened between
that dislocation and the Muiredge north fault at depths of
from 70 - 80 fathoms, and again to the north of the
last-named fault between Methilhill, where it cropped out,
and the sea. This Chemiss Coal being now the chief workable
seam in this part of the coalfield was locally known as the
Main Coal.
Mr Kirkby, a prominent palaeontologist of the 19th century, stated "The Chemiss Coal is at present being worked beneath and beyond tide-marks at the Rosie, Denbeath and Leven Collieries. At the two former, I understand, it is a fairly good coal; but at the latter, nearly all the dip workings are (and have been for years) in very foul stuff - bits of stone where coal should be, then a patch of coal, perhaps full height, perhaps not, time after time; just as though a very flat hitch, or a reverse fault, or a thrust on a large scale had continued in the coal over a large area. And, at the Durie Colliery, further to the east, the same coal is found rising to the east (instead of dipping), and so foul that it has never been worked".
Coals in the vicinity of the Rosie's underground workings continued to be won in later years from neighbouring pits, e.g. the Branxton Coal was being wrought in 1964 from the ground just east of the Rosie shafts.
A typical record of the Brankston Coal in that location is given below:
| Description | Thickness |
| COAL | 35 in. |
| Blaes | 9 in. |
| COAL | 22 in. |
| Fireclay | 18 in. |
| Plans of Abandoned Seams, Rosie Pit | Pits and Mines designated in Plans |
|---|---|
| COAL; Coxtool or Six Feet (Upper and Lower Leaf) - (September, 1907) | Rosie Nos. 1, 2 |
| COAL; Bush (June, 1935); Wall; Den (November, 1935) | Rosie |
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"Dunfermline Saturday Press"
16 July, 1881
On Wednesday night when William Semple, miner, working in the Rosie Pit, was in the act of removing an empty hutch at the pit-bottom, the engine was started, and he was killed by being crushed between the cage and the shaft.
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"Dunfermline Saturday Press"
23 June, 1883
Last Friday afternoon, while a miner, named James Reid, was employed at the Rosie Pit loading coals from the "bing" on the hill-head, a tub that was being put down went over the cage, and fell upon him. The tub, which contained about 3 cwt. of coal, fell from a height of 14 feet upon Reid, who was dreadfully crushed. He was taken home to Muiredge, and died the same evening. The unfortunate man was 29 years of age, and leaves a widow and two children.
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"The Scotsman"
1 May, 1884
WEMYSS - PIT ACCIDENT. - While George Clunie was at work drawing in the Rosie Pit yesterday morning, the hutches broke away from the dook, and running up against him, broke one of his legs and otherwise injured him.
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"Dunfermline Saturday Press"
4 October, 1884
On Wednesday morning, John Matthewson, hooker in the Rosie Pit of Messrs. Bowman & Company, missed his footing and fell in front of the hutches, several of which grazed his head and otherwise seriously injured his body.
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"Dunfermline Saturday Press"
6 December, 1884
On Saturday, while James Taylor, about 25 years of age, was employed as "bottomer" in the Rosie Pit, the cage descended upon him and broke both of his legs. He was conveyed to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.
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"Dunfermline Saturday Press"
6 June, 1885
This edition reported the departure of Mr. James Lambert, for four years time-keeper and weighman at Rosie Colliery, who was leaving to take up a similar situation in Cowdenbeath.
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"Dunfermline Saturday Press"
4 September, 1886
On Thursday, William Howell, a miner, while at work at the Rosie Pit, was crushed between two waggons, and received severe internal injuries.
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"Dunfermline Saturday Press"
2 February, 1889
On Saturday afternoon, a young lad named James Taylor, while at work in Rosie Pit, was struck on the head by a piece of coal from the roof and died in a few hours.
"Dunfermline Saturday Press"
10 August, 1895
On Wednesday afternoon, Thomas Logie, a bottomer, about 20 years of age, working at Rosie Pit, while on the way home from his work got on to the back end of a locomotive engine near the pit unobserved by the driver to get a ride down. On seeing that the engine was going in the opposite direction to what he wanted, he leapt off and the engine went over him. Both his legs were cut off above the knee. He was taken to hospital.
[Thomas Logie died later as a result of the injuries received in this incident.]
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"Dunfermline Press"
27 May, 1905
PIT TO BE CLOSED
Notices have been posted at Rosie Pit, No. 2, that the services of all workers above and below ground will be dispersed with within fourteen days from date. This will affect about 150 men resident in Buckhaven and East Wemyss. The lease of the pit expires this summer, and this is the first step to the final closing down of the colliery.
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"Dunfermline Press"
8 July, 1905
It is understood that Wemyss Coal Company are to
take over Denbeath, Rosie, and Muiredge Pits from Messrs Bowman
& Company, whose lease expires at the end of this month. Messrs
Bowman have worked these collieries for nearly forty years, and to
their enterprise was due the rapid development of Buckhaven
coalfield and the consequent growth of the town from a rather
exclusive fishing village to a thriving mining centre. Much
satisfaction prevails in the district that the transaction will be
so smoothly effected that the employees will hardly realise the
change of masters.
Adjoining Muiredge Pit is the Isabella Pit, the
lease of which does not expire till 1912, but negotiations are
going on for this also being taken over by the Wemyss Coal Company.
Once the transfer is effected no time will be lost by the latter
Company in sinking the great pit at Denbeath which is to tap the
coalfield under the Forth.
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"Dunfermline Press"
2 September, 1905
Bernard Thomson (17), pit drawer, residing in Buckhaven, was instantly killed on Friday afternoon last week at the Rosie Pit, belonging to the Wemyss Coal Company, Limited. A break of about 8 tons of coal came away from the side, completely burying the lad. When extricated the remains presented a shocking appearance, the lad's head being smashed so that his brains protruded. He had only recently left the joiner trade to work in the pit.
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"The Scotsman"
28 November, 1905
FATALITY IN A FIFE PIT. - Yesterday forenoon, William Cairns, Galloway's Buildings, Methil, was killed in the Rosie Pit, East Wemyss. Along with his son, he was working at the face, when the coal burst out with terrible violence, and inflicted injuries from which Cairns died. His son had a miraculous escape.
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"Dunfermline Press"
21 July, 1906
An accident, which has since proved fatal, occurred at Rosie Colliery on Wednesday. While a labourer named David Henderson, fifty-two years of age, was engaged filling small coal into a wagon, two men ran forward another vehicle. The wagons collided, and Henderson was thrown to the ground. His left leg was badly smashed, and he also received internal injuries. He was conveyed to Kirkcaldy Cottage Hospital.
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"Dunfermline Press"
8 December, 1906
At the Court of Sessions on Thursday, as a result of an action raised by William Thomson, fisherman, Cargill Road, Buckhaven, against the Wemyss Coal Company, Limited, East Wemyss, damages of £95 were awarded by Lord Johnston and a jury. Thomson was the father of Bernard Thomson, 16 years of age, who was killed in the Rosie Pit on 25th August, 1905, by a fall of one and a half tons of coal from the roof.
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H. M. Inspector of Mines Report 1907
Mr. Robert McLaren's Report
Fatal Accident at Rosie, Fife
Owner: Wemyss Coal Co., Ltd.
12 December, 1906
William McLean, 46, Miner. Deceased was lifting a loaded tub which had left the rails, and in doing so he slipped and fell, injuring his side. He continued to work at irregular intervals for some time afterwards, but eventually became very ill, and died on 10th August, 1907.
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"Dunfermline Press"
12 December, 1907
A WEMYSS FATALITY
At Cupar on Tuesday Sheriff Armour and a jury inquired into the circumstances attending the death of William McLean, miner, Buckhaven, who was injured in No. 2 Pit of the Rosie Colliery on 12 December 1906. His son, Robert McLean, Links, Buckhaven, said his father and himself were working at the coal face of the six-foot seam. His father had a hutch loaded with redd, and when he was lifting the hutch on to the rails his foot slipped, and he went down on his knees. He said he had wrenched his side, but he continued working off an on till the end of the shift. Towards the end of the month he gave up work, and was for some time in Edinburgh Infirmary. He got no better, however, came home, and died on 10th August last. David McLean, in answer to Mr D. L. Smith, mining engineer, Glasgow, who represented the Wemyss Coal Company, said the reason that the accident was not reported before June was that his father was of an independent nature, and thought he would soon get better. A formal verdict was returned. Mr A. P. McBain, solicitor, Dunfermline, watched the case on behalf of the representatives of deceased, and Mr E. Bezzell Whalley, H. M. Inspector of Mines, was also present.
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"The Scotsman"
1 January, 1913
MINING ACCIDENT AT METHIL. - ... Another accident took place in a second pit belonging to the Wemyss Coal Company, a Buckhaven man, John Simpson, being felled by a large stone in the Rosie Colliery. His back and leg were seriously injured.
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"Dunfermline Press"
18 August, 1917
FIRE AT FIFE COAL BINGS
Wemyss Coal Coy., Ltd., are confronted with serious loss as the result of fires at Rosie and Lochhead pit bings. For weeks they have battled with the former outbreak, and now having isolated the part affected it is left to burn out. About 30,000 tons were in the Lochhead bing at first. Most of it is cut off from the fire, but a considerable quantity is doomed.
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"Cowdenbeath & Lochgelly Times"
25 January, 1928
PRESENTATIONS TO WEMYSS COLLIERY MANAGER
On the occasion of his leaving Michael Colliery, Wemyss, to take up duties at Rosie Colliery, as manager, Mr Archibald Sharp was made the recipient of an easy chair and a tea-set for Mrs Sharp, subscribed for by the officials and workmen. Mr Thos. Gairns presided. ...
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"The Scotsman"
10 August, 1931
COAL CENTRALISATION
Fife Collieries Affected
The scheme of centralisation of the collieries advocated in many quarters as a remedy for the
difficult times in the coal trade is being applied in Fife. Already the Fife Coal Company have
dropped all their concerns save one in the eastern field. The remaining seams are likely to
be wrought in course of time by the Wemyss Coal Company from other shafts.
The Wemyss Coal Company have also abandoned Earlseat mines, and in the recent dispute
over hours and wages they made it no secret that if Muiredge and Rosie pits stopped they
would be closed for good. Scarcely expected, however, was the notice posted at Muiredge
during the end of the week, giving notice to all hands that the pit was to be closed in a
fortnight. About 700 men and boys are affected.
Wemyss Coal Company have just completed a great shaft at East Wemyss, which, like
their shaft at the Wellesley (Methil), taps all the main seams in the Wemyss field and
also opens up to them the coal under the Forth. They will be able to work out the
remaining coal left at Muiredge, one of the oldest collieries in the area.
More men are being taken on at the Michael (East Wemyss) Pit as the working places
are extended, and it is hoped ere long the double shift will be resumed in the
Wellesley, absorbing most of the men paid off at Muiredge.
Low prices for shipping coal have hastened the decision to close this pit. The Rosie,
close by, is kept going with land-sale orders.
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"Dunfermline Press"
3 December, 1932
BUCKHAVEN MINER KILLED.
Daniel K. Malcolm, East Wemyss, a native of Buckhaven, employed as a brusher in the Rosie Colliery of the Wemyss Coal Company, was killed on Monday morning by a fall of a girder. The night shift work was nearly completed when the girder suddenly came away, striking Malcolm on the head and killing him instantly. Malcolm, who was about fifty, was well-known throughout the district as a lay-man preacher and a poet. Last week he gave a recital of his poetical pieces at a large gathering in Buckhaven.
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"The Scotsman"
20 September, 1934
CLAIMANT TO FORTUNE KILLED IN FIFE PIT
Fife Collieries Affected
A claimant to a fortune was the victim of a Fife pit fatality yesterday. Robert Cowan Mercer (52), who resided at Swan Buildings, Causeway, Kennoway, was employed at No. 2 level of the Wemyss Coal Company's Rosie Colliery, near Easy Wemyss, when a stone weighing about two tons fell from the roof and crushed him. Death was instantaneous. Mercer, who leaves a widow and family, was one of the claimants to the Mercer millions, and a firm of solicitors in Edinburgh are investigating his claim.
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"Dunfermline Press"
29 January, 1949
FIFE PITS TO CLOSE
Six pits in Fife and Clackmannan area will be closed in the next two years. These employ 950 men.
This was announced by Lord Balfour, chairman, Scottish Division of the Coal Board, at a conference in
Edinburgh on Thursday. The pits are being closed because they are uneconomic or nearing exhaustion, he said.
The six pits are:- Leadside (237 men); Lumphinnans No. 1 (154 men); Craigrie (146 men);
Melloch (11 men); Meta (98 men), and Rosie (305 men).
It is not expected the closure of these pits would present a problem of displaced manpower.
It was considered the men could be readily absorbed within the area.
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