Designating St Mungo's Pit
Feedback updated 29 Apr 2025
We asked
From 17th March to 7th April 2025, Historic Environment Scotland (HES) sought views on our proposal to designate St Mungo’s Pit.
The site is a nationally important monument that was found to meet our criteria for designation. St Mungo’s Pit is a moated coal shaft dating from the 16th to 17th centuries that makes a significant contribution to our understanding or appreciation of the mining heritage of Scotland.
Further details can be accessed on our Heritage Portal: St Mungo’s – Designation.
You said
We received 2 responses, both in favour of designating St Mungo’s as a scheduled monument.
The Report of Handling on our Heritage Portal (linked above) provides also notes this. Comments included:
- “This is an early point on our addiction to coal and should be more important in our national story.”
We did
After considering the comments received during the consultation, we have now scheduled St Mungo’s Pit.
Download the Report of Handling from our Heritage Portal: St Mungo’s – Designation.
Overview
St Mungo’s Pit is a rare example of a moated coal shaft, dating from the late 16th to early 17th centuries. It sits on reclaimed land that was once part of the intertidal zone of the Firth of Forth. Moated mine entrances were stone towers that stood above the surface of the water at high tide. St Mungo's moat provided an additional entrance and ventilation for an underground tunnel from which previously inaccessible coal could be extracted. The moat was described as lying ‘wasted’ by 1608 and is thought to be a predecessor to another moated mine entrance - The Moat Pit. It is likely to have been flooded by a severe storm in 1625.
Moated mine shafts are a significant aspect of Scotland’s early industrial past playing an important role in the mining enterprises of Sir George Bruce. The ‘Great Coal’ that was produced from these mines was exported to England, Germany, and the Low Countries. Smaller ‘pan coal’ was integral to the local economy.
Moat pits demonstrate a marked advancement of the Scottish coal mining industry in terms of design, technique, technology, scale and economic viability. This site now survives as the base courses of a round sandstone tower and a flooded mine shaft. It can be viewed from Culross east car park.
We are proposing to designate this site as a scheduled monument, an archaeological site that makes a significant contribution to our understanding and appreciation of Scotland's past.
We have launched this public consultation to gather views on our proposal to schedule this important site. Find out more about scheduled monuments.
Find out more about why we think St Mungo's Pit meets the criteria for scheduling by downloading our Report on Handling from the Documents section on the HES Portal.
Why your views matter
We’d love to hear your thoughts and whether you agree with our proposal. You can do this by completing the short questionnaire below. We are also keen for any more information that you might have about the sites, which will enhance our understanding of its significance and our record.
This questionnaire usually takes 5-10 minutes to complete.
Find out what comments we consider and what happens next in our consultations guide or by watching our guide to designations on Youtube.
Share
Share on Twitter Share on Facebook