Coaltown of Wemyss
Coaltown of Wemyss is a village in south-east Fife, Scotland, around 5 km north of Kirkcaldy.
The town was built in the 1890s as an estate village on the lands of nearby Wemyss Castle to house - as the name implies - mineworkers employed in several coal mines in the area. The miners' cottages were designated as a conservation area in 1980. Today the Coaltown has a primary school, some small shops, and the Earl David Hotel, named after David Wemyss, 2nd Earl of Wemyss. Wemyss Castle itself is not open to the public but its gardens can be visited during summer.
Getting around Coaltown of Wemyss the local way
- Get inFrom 1847 to 1890 the world's first ro-ro ferry plied across the Forth between Burntisland and Granton near Edinburgh: railway trucks were shunted on and off the ferry without needing unloading, while passengers walked.
- Get inDr Bell of Edinburgh, one of the main inspirations for Sherlock Holmes, once theatrically deduced that a patient had come by this ferry by the nature of the mud on his boots.
From Wikivoyage: Burntisland, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-09.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Wikimedia Commons (see Commons), Wikimedia Commons.