OS grid reference NT160916 Sovereign state United Kingdom Postcode district KY4 8, KY4 9 Local time Saturday 5:33 PM | Post town COWDENBEATH Dialling code 01383 | |
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Weather 10°C, Wind W at 5 km/h, 91% Humidity Scottish parliaments Cowdenbeath, Mid Scotland and Fife | ||
Hill of Beath ( listen ; Hill o Beath in Scots) is a hill and a village in Fife, Scotland just outside Dunfermline and joined to Cowdenbeath.
Map of Hill of Beath, Cowdenbeath, UK
The Hill of Beath was the location of a celebrated meeting of the Covenanters at which John Blackadder was one of the preachers. At that meeting, held in the summer of 1670 during the height of the struggle against episcopal rule, the Covenanters brought swords and pistols to defend themselves against attack.
The village at this location was built and owned by the Fife Coal Company, which rented the cottages to the miners for the duration of their employment in the mine. In 1896 the village population was about 1,300. As an experiment, a public house was started in June 1896 using the Gothenburg system, with any profits to be used for public works. An initial report suggested it was helping to reduce drunkenness despite the ease of access to public houses in nearby Crossgates. In February 1901 an underground fire killed seven men. Accidents, often fatal, were frequent in the years that followed.
Hill of Beath is the birthplace of Rangers F.C. legend Jim Baxter and Scotland captain Willie Cunningham and the home town of Celtic F.C. midfielder Scott Brown.