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Castleland Hill Mine [Rosyth]

Rosyth, Castleland Hill, Fife.

Mine. (coordinates vague, no possible site identified yet).

Lead was discovered at Castlandhill in the 1760s; it ran out after being worked for some time, and the venture was not profitable. [OSA]

(Location cited as NT119 827): Castle Hill Lead Mine, Rosyth is an ancient mine of c.1750. This has not been found but is recorded in the Catalogue of Plans of Abandoned Mines (HMSO, 1931, volume 5). [GSG, 2008]

The old mine is situated on Castleland Hill, five sixth of a mile west of Inverkeithing. It seems to have been accidentally discovered about 1750, and was worked soon afterwards. About 50 tons of ore are said to have been raised, but at a loss, and the mine was soon abandoned. The vein is said to trend north-east, and to be partly in basalt and partly in sandstone. An analysis of the ore by Rev. Robertson yielded 84.63 per cent of lead and little or no silver. [G.V. Wilson]

Alternative Names: Castleland Hill Lead Mine, Castlandhill Mine.

Notes: The given coordinates are near the summit of the hill now occupied by Castleland Hill farm, reservoirs and several radio masts (WWI signal station), however the geology of the area suggests the mine site might be further south, closer to Whinny Hill and Castleland Woods, where the sandstone gives way to igneous rock. Most of the east side of Whinny Hill has now been quarried away to form an approach road for new Forth road bridge (Queen Margaret's Crossing), actually the re-routed local feeder road, B980). Site investigation prior to the work found no evidence of the lead mine although there was evidence of coal mining (Castlelandhill Mine).

Hydrographic Feeds: None

Hydrographic Resurgences: None