Hill of Beath

Hill of Beath
Keirs Park, home of Hill of Beath Hawthorn
Hill of Beath  Hill of Beath shown within Fife
OS grid reference	NT160916
Council area	Fife
Lieutenancy area	Fife
Country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	COWDENBEATH
Postcode district	KY4 8, KY4 9
Dialling code	01383
Police	Scottish
Fire	Scottish
Ambulance	Scottish
EU Parliament	Scotland
UK Parliament	Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath
Scottish Parliament	Cowdenbeath
	Mid Scotland and Fife
List of places UK Scotland

Coordinates: 56°05′45″N 3°22′05″W / 56.095826°N 3.368104°W

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.

The Hill of Beath was the location of a celebrated meeting of the Covenanters at which John Blackadder was one of the preachers.^[1] 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.^[2]

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.^[3] In February 1901 an underground fire killed seven men.^[4] Accidents, often fatal, were frequent in the years that followed.^[5]

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.

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  Statue of Jim Baxter

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  A mixture of housing, public and private, looking towards Hill o' Beath

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  Hawthorn Crescent, Hill of Beath. The 'Hill' of Beath in the background

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  Hill of Beath village from Cuttlehill road, just East of farm. Horizon shows the hill of "Hill of Beath" rising right to left. A92 West Fife link road (dual carriageway) in foreground.

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  Woods planted on a restored open cast mining site.

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  B981 towards Cowdenbeath, situated over dual carriageway (A92) just short of bridge over railway. Hill of Beath ahead

See also

• Hill of Beath Hawthorn F.C.

References

1. Stuart, Charles (1883). "Rev. John Blackadder". Notes and queries. Oxford University Press.
2. "Outed Ministers, Curates, Conventicles. and the Blink". The Reformation. 3 November 2011. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
3. "Hill of Beath Tavern". Scottish Mining Website. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
4. "Hill of Beath 15th February 1901". Scottish Mining Website. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
5. "Beath Parish: Accidents 1901 to 1914". Scottish Mining Website. Retrieved 14 February 2012.