Thornton, Fife
| Thornton | |
| Fife | |
|---|---|
 Main Street, Thornton | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | NT288974 |
| Location: | 56°9’50"N, 3°8’53"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | Kirkcaldy |
| Postcode: | KY1 |
| Dialling code: | 01592 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Fife |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Glenrothes |
Thornton is a village in Fife. It is between Kirkcaldy and Glenrothes, and stands between the River Ore and Lochty Burn, which are at opposite ends of the main street.
The Church of Scotland parish church was built in 1835 and is located on the Main Street.[1]
The village has a small railway station, which is called 'Glenrothes with Thornton': this rail halt was opened in May 1992, restoring a rail service to Thornton lost when its main line railway station closed in October 1969 as a consequence of the Beeching Axe.
Railways
Thornton Junction railway station was opened in the 1840s on the Edinburgh and Northern Railway.[2] During the first part of the twentieth century, Thornton railway station was situated on the Aberdeen to London main line to the east of the village, at the end of Station Road. To the west, alongside the Dunfermline line, the largest railway marshalling yard in Scotland was built during the 1950s. Though much reduced, this yard is still in use for rail freight services.
Coal mining
In 1957, the Rothes Pit was opened to mine the coal in the rural hinterland surrounding the village. This coal mine was tied very closely to the development of the postwar new town of Glenrothes to the north.[3] The planned long-term benefits were to be huge, and were to be the driver for economic regeneration in Central Fife. In 1961, four years after opening, the huge investment was written off and the mine run down because of unstemmable flooding, and closed in May 1962.[4] Ironically, miners who had worked in older deep pits in the area had forewarned against the development of the Rothes Pit for this very reason. The state-of-the art engineering and design was closed, leaving the huge enclosed concrete wheel-towers standing at Thornton for many years as a forlorn symbol of the collapse until 1993, when the towers were demolished.
Sport
- Football: Thornton Hibernian F.C., who play at Memorial Park.
- Golf: Thornton Golf Club, which has a 18-hole golf course[5]
- Lawn bowls: Thornton Bowling Club[6]
The village holds a Highland Games annually every July.
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Thornton, Fife) |
References
- ↑ "Basic site details: Thornton Chapel". http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/building_full.php?id=229463. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
- ↑ "Glenrothes with Thornton Railway Station". http://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst63024.html. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
- ↑ "My Community: Glenrothes". Fife Council. https://www.fifedirect.org.uk/yourtown/index.cfm?fuseaction=history.display&town=0F9DB065-BF8E-4BB7-85F9FB281784F80B&objectid=8D68DDF0-B8C2-4ED3-A54C26F49D30B95F. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
- ↑ "Rothes Colliery". Northern Mine Research Society. https://www.nmrs.org.uk/mines-map/coal-mining-in-the-british-isles/scotland/kirkcaldy/rothes-colliery/. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
- ↑ Thornton Golf Club
- ↑ Thornton Bowling Club