The SCAPE Trust - Brora and St Monans Salt Works, Fife

St Monans Salt Works were built in 1771.

We visited this site as part of a visit to St Andrews University to see Tom Dawson and Joanna Hambly of The SCAPE Trust about their participation in ECOSAL-ATLANTIS. 

SCAPE have been involved in the excavation of a salt works at Brora, Sutherland. The project received an award from the Association of Industrial Archaeology for the Best Volunteer Project of 2010.

It is suggested that SCAPE utilise their local contacts and volunteers around the Scottish coastline to coordinate the historic salt making sites of Scotland with the ECOSAL network and Route of Traditional Salt Making.

Not being on the Atlantic coast we can't include St Monans, or the other salt making sites of the Firth of Forth in ECOSAL-ATLANTIS, but as ECOSAL develops from the initial INTERREG funded project we shall look to expand to include sites around the whole of the UK coastline.

The windmill is opened to visitors between July and September.

Paula Martin summarised the history of St Monans - Described by the minister of St Monans in 1790 as 'One of the neatest and best combined salt-works upon the coast', this saltworks was established by Sir John Anstruther, who inherited these lands in 1753. In 1771 (with Robert Fall) he establsihed the Newark Coal and Salt company, integrating a colliery (on the site of Coalfarm, NO50SW 312), a windmill (NO50SW 48), a waggonway and salt pans; these last were built along the shore in 1772-4. Salt was exported through St Monans harbour (NO50SW 81).

The waggonway went out of use in 1794, on account of reduced coal production resulting from a major underground fire. Mining continued on a small scale (apparently to supply the pans) but pumping stopped in 1803; the pans themselves were abandoned by 1823.
Taken together, these remains represent an early intergrated development which has not been obliterated by later works.

Fife Education - Energy Resources

St Monans windmill and salt pans. 

Information panels describing the salt pans, brine tank and windmill.

How the pan houses might have looked.

One of the pan houses has been consolidated.

Remains of a St Monans pan house.

Brine channel drawing sea water to the pan houses.