Levenmouth - a brief history

Buckhaven Methil Methilhill Leven Windygates Kennoway

The area defined as Levemouth is a relatively new creation. The towns and villages of Buckhaven, Methil, Leven, Methilhill, East Wemyss, Kennoway and Windygates were once completely independent of each other with very different histories and communities. Periods of housing development during the end of the 19th century, the 1920s and again in the 1950s caused many of these villages to swell and merge into each other until today it is difficult to say where one town stops and the other begins. However, visitors beware! Strong community identities still exist

Buckhaven
For most of its history Buckhaven was primarily a fishing village; which once boasted the second largest fishing fleet of any town in Scotland. However since WW1 the fishing industry has withered away almost to nothing although much of the independent, almost clannish attitudes of a typical fishing village still remain. From the early 1900's fishing was replaced by coal mining, and many of the inhabitants over the age of 50 would have worked in the local pits (mainly the Wellesley, Earlseat, Wellsgreen and Lochhead) or in some related industry such as the railways.

Methil
Although Methil's history stretches back for many centuries the town only really came to prominence towards 1900. It was at this time that the first dock was built at Methil and many of the local pits were sunk, most notably the Wellesley, which stood on the site of the present oilrig construction yard. The sudden influx of mining families from all over Scotland during the first half of this century made Methil the 'melting pot of Fife. Different religions, cultures and nationalities mixed together giving the town a fairly unique identity. This, added to the speed at which the town grew and the presence of the docks inevitably led to conflict (usually on a Saturday night) and Methil gained an unenviable reputation as rough place, full of fighting miners and drunken sailors and with a prostitution problem which rivaled the bigger ports of Dundee and Leith. Although there were problems many of the stories were exaggerated. Methil was also one of the busiest shopping areas in Fife. The High Street in Lower Methil once bustled with activity and many traveled from all over Scotland to visit the Wonderstore - a huge department store which took up a large part of the high street. The last big house building program was in the mid 1950's. This took Methil to it's present size, bounded in the north by the river Leven and merging with Methilhill in the west.

Methilhill
Until the 1900's Methilhill was a tiny village made up of a handful of miners cottages sited in the Pirnie Street - Grieve Street area adjacent to the Pirnie pit. Throughout the 1910's and 1920's most of modem day Methilhill was built, from Brown Crescent to Queen's Square, to house the huge number of miners and their families coming to work in the local pits. At the time these houses were amongst the best miners houses in Scotland. As well as coal mining, many people in Methilhill worked at the nearby Cameronbrig distillery. Until the late 1940's Methilhill farm was a short walk away along country lanes. The housing boom after WWII surrounded the farm with modern housing.

Leven
Leven was an established town long before any of its neighbours were more than small villages. Over the centuries it developed a mixed industrial base geared around papermaking, spinning, timber sales. As a result of this it was not as dependent on coal mining as Methil and Buckhaven and did not suffer as greatly when the pits closed. For most of this century the town's beaches and golf courses made a popular holiday resort, particularly with people from the west of Scotland. Although the number of visitors has dropped dramatically over the last few years Leven still has the air of a holiday town particularly around the promenade. The area around Mountfleurie and the Broom were constructed during the 1950s along with the tree scheme in Methil. These houses were built to help with the post war housing shortage and the last to be built to house miners coming to the area.

Windygates
Nearby Cameronbrig is well known for the distillery. Before the distillery was established, the site had been used for grain milling for several centuries. In 1822 John Haig visited the site and saw that the quality of water and the proximity of grain farms and mills made the location ideal for whisky manufacture. The distillery was taken over by the Distillers Company in whose hands it remained until 1986 when it was acquired by United Distillers. Investment in the site in the 1980's saw the introduction of spirit for the making of gin and vodka added to their output. Cameron Brig whisky, a single grain, is one of their well known brands. Coal mining and grain milling have long since stopped in the area, the distillary being the only major employer.

Kennoway
Kennoway was once renowned for its clean air and spa waters.