The Fife Coalfield was one of the principal coalfield

Coalfield

A coalfield is an area of certain uniform characteristics where coal is mined. The criteria for determining the approximate boundary of a coalfield are geographical and cultural, in addition to geological...

s in Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. Over fifty collieries were in operation at various times between the middle of the nineteenth century and the closure of the last pit in 1988. The coalfield extended across the southern part of Fife

Fife

Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...

 where rocks of the Coal Measures Group occur and was one of a series of coalfields throughout the Midland Valley

Midland Valley

Midland Valley may refer to:* Midland Valley Railroad, a 20th century railway in the USA that ran from Kansas to Arkansas* The Central Lowlands a major geographical feature of Scotland...

 from which coal was won by both deep workings and opencast

Opencast

Opencast is a term to describe audio and video content, primarily in an academic context. It combines the terms "Open" for Open Source and/or Open Access and "Broadcast"...

ing methods. It is traditionally divided into the West Fife, Central Fife and East Fife coalfields with Kirkcaldy

Kirkcaldy

Kirkcaldy is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. The town lies on a shallow bay on the northern shore of the Firth of Forth; SSE of Glenrothes, ENE of Dunfermline, WSW of Dundee and NNE of Edinburgh...

 having been a particularly important area. Some of the mines extended beyond Fife under the Firth of Forth

Firth of Forth

The Firth of Forth is the estuary or firth of Scotland's River Forth, where it flows into the North Sea, between Fife to the north, and West Lothian, the City of Edinburgh and East Lothian to the south...

 following the seams which occupy the Leven Syncline which extends to the south shore of the firth at Musselburgh

Musselburgh

Musselburgh is the largest settlement in East Lothian, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth, six miles east of Edinburgh city centre.-History:...

 and beyond.

The Longannet power station

Longannet power station

Longannet power station is a large coal-fired power station in Fife capable of co-firing biomass, natural gas and sludge. The station is situated on the north bank of the Firth of Forth, near Kincardine on Forth. Its generating capacity of 2,400 megawatts is the highest of any power station in...

 near Kincardine

Kincardine

Kincardine or Kincardine-on-Forth is a small town located on the north shore of the Firth of Forth, in Fife, Scotland. The town was given the status of a Burgh of barony in 1663. It was at one time a reasonably prosperous minor port...

 used to source much of its coal from nearby pits but the Longannet coal mine

Longannet coal mine

-History:Longannet was the remnant of three mines, established in the 1960s. Built on the north side of the Firth of Forth, east of Kincardine, it connected with the Bogside, Castlehill and Solsgirth Collieries, forming a single, five miles long, tunnel...

closed after severe flooding in 2002, an event which more or less marked the end of deep mining in Fife and indeed Scotland. Opencasting continues to the present day.