Meaning of name | named after Sir Robert Preston |
---|---|
Location | |
OS grid reference | NT004856 |
Coordinates | 56°03′11″N3°36′00″W / 56.053°N 3.600°W |
Physical geography | |
Island group | Islands of the Forth |
Highest elevation | <10 m |
Administration | |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Country | Scotland |
Council area | Fife |
Demographics | |
Population | 0 |
Preston Island is a former artificial island in the Firth of Forth, Scotland. The reclaimed land was once used for salt production, using local coal. It is part of Fife.
Preston Island, south of Low Valleyfield in the Firth of Forth, was reclaimed by Sir Robert Preston, 6th Baronet in the early 19th century. [1] A sea wall was constructed, followed by buildings and a coal mine, producing coal for the production of salt in saltpans on the island. [2] [3]
Two further coal shafts were in development when a fatal firedamp explosion occurred in 1811, after which the mine was closed. [2] [4]
Salt production continued for some decades, under lease from Preston. [3] The buildings later housed an illicit distillery. [1] Several well-maintained ruins remain.
The 'island' is no longer surrounded by water, following further land reclamation, using ash from the nearby Longannet power station. [2]
Coordinates: 56°3′12″N3°36′0″W / 56.05333°N 3.60000°W
Fife is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire. By custom it is widely held to have been one of the major Pictish kingdoms, known as Fib, and is still commonly known as the Kingdom of Fife within Scotland. A person from Fife is known as a Fifer. In older documents the county was very occasionally known by the anglicisation Fifeshire.
The Firth of Forth is the estuary (firth) of several Scottish rivers including the River Forth. It meets the North Sea with Fife on the north coast and Lothian on the south.
Culross (/ˈkurəs/) is a village and former royal burgh, and parish, in Fife, Scotland.
Inchcolm is an island in the Firth of Forth in Scotland. It was repeatedly attacked by English raiders during the Wars of Scottish Independence, and was fortified during both World Wars to defend nearby Edinburgh. Inchcolm now attracts visitors to its former Augustine Abbey.
Inchkeith is an island in the Firth of Forth, Scotland, administratively part of the Fife council area.
Inchgarvie or Inch Garvie is a small, uninhabited island in the Firth of Forth. On the rocks around the island sit four caissons that make up the foundations of the Forth Bridge.
Longannet power station was a large coal-fired power station in Fife, and the last coal-fired power station in Scotland. It was capable of co-firing biomass, natural gas and sludge. The station stood on the north bank of the Firth of Forth, near Kincardine on Forth.
Culross Palace is a late 16th to early 17th century merchant's house in Culross, Fife, Scotland.
Longannet coal mine was a deep mine complex in Fife, Scotland.
Levenmouth is a conurbation comprising a network of small settlements on the north side of the Firth of Forth, in Fife on the east coast of Scotland. It consists of three principal coastal towns; Leven, Buckhaven, and Methil, and a number of smaller towns, villages and hamlets inland. The industrial towns of Buckhaven and Methil lie on the west bank of the River Leven, and the resort town of Leven is on the east bank. The "Bawbee Bridge" links the two sides of the river. Historically, Buckhaven and Methil were joined together as one burgh, while Leven was separate. The area had an estimated population of 37,238 in 2006.
Valleyfield consists of High Valleyfield and Low Valleyfield which are neighbouring villages in Fife, Scotland, midway between Dunfermline and Kincardine-on-Forth. Low Valleyfield is on the shore of the Firth of Forth, High Valleyfield on the ridge immediately to the north.
The Islands of the Forth are a group of small islands located in the Firth of Forth and in the estuary of the River Forth on the east coast of Scotland. Most of the group lie in the open waters of the firth, between the Lothians and Fife, with the majority to the east of the city of Edinburgh. Two islands lie further west in the river estuary.
Rosyth Castle is a fifteenth-century ruined tower house on the perimeter of Rosyth Naval Dockyard, Fife, Scotland.
Charlestown is a village in Fife, Scotland. It lies on the north shore of the Firth of Forth, around 1 mile (1.6 km) west of Limekilns and 3 miles (5 km) south-west of Dunfermline.
Inch or Alloa Inch is an island in the tidal reaches of the River Forth near Alloa, just before the river opens out into the Firth of Forth.
Sir George Bruce of Carnock was a Scottish merchant, ship-owner, and mining engineer.
West Wemyss is a village lying on the north shore of the Firth of Forth, in Fife, Scotland. According to the 2007 population estimate, the village has a population of 237. The village was granted burgh of barony status in 1511, bearing the name from the Wemyss family who lived in Wemyss Castle.
The Fife Coalfield was one of the principal coalfields in Scotland. Over fifty collieries were in operation at various times between the middle of the nineteenth century and the closure of the last pit in 1988. The coalfield extended across the southern part of Fife where rocks of the Coal Measures Group occur and was one of a series of coalfields throughout the Midland Valley from which coal was won by both deep workings and opencasting methods. It is traditionally divided into the West Fife, Central Fife and East Fife coalfields with Kirkcaldy having been a particularly important area. Some of the mines extended beyond Fife under the Firth of Forth following the seams which occupy the Leven Syncline which extends to the south shore of the firth at Musselburgh and beyond.
The Black Devon is a river in Scotland. It rises in the Cleish Hills, specifically the area known as Outh Muir, 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) north of Knockhill Racing Circuit, around 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) north-west of Dunfermline, Fife, with the gathering of three small streams in branch formation. The river flows westwards through Balgonar, north of Saline, and then merges with the Saline Burn. The Black Devon flows into Clackmannanshire, through the hamlet of Forestmill and past the town of Clackmannan. The Black Devon enters the River Forth south of Alloa, 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) north of Dunmore Pier.
Sir Robert Preston, 6th Baronet was a Scottish merchant and politician. After making a fortune in the trade with East India, he became the member of Parliament for the constituency of Dover from 1784 to 1790, and for Cirencester from 1792 to 1806. As Baronet of Valleyfield, he sought to improve his stately home, created expansive landscaped grounds, and directed industrial endeavours.