The Tayside and Fife Archaeological Committee (TAFAC) is registered in Scotland as a charity (SC002450)

© 2011 Tayside & Fife Archaeological Committee                              Last updated 8 February 2012

Monograph Two (1999)

 

The Salt and Coal Industries at St Monans, Fife, in the 18th and 19th Centuries

 

69pp. 4 colour plates, 50 illus, several tables; ISSN 1360-5550

 

Archaeological investigations between 1985 and 1995 provided the key to unlock the fugitive evidence of a heavily industrialised landscape of the late 18th century, in an area now rolling farmland. Modern perceptions are reversed by this fascinating integrated analysis of hidden traces found in historic documents and old maps, coupled with new evidence from aerial survey and excavations. Ideal circumstances came together 200 years ago at St Monans, where capital, raw materials, skilled labour and innovative engineering were fused to create one of the most important sites of the Industrial Revolution in rural Scotland. The saltpans survive as a unique monument to the lives of the engineers, salters and colliers who created this part of our early industrial history.

 

This volume is now out of print, but can be downloaded here.

 

Introduction, Peter Yeoman and Colin Martin

 

Excavations at the St Monans saltpans 1990-96, Robin Murdoch and John Lewis

 

The Newark Coal and Salt Work Company: its social and economic impact, Paula Martin

 

The 18th-century industrial landscape between St Monans and Pittenweem: a cartographic and archaeological study, Colin Martin

 

Bibliography