Thornton, Fife

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Thornton
Thornton, Fife.jpg
Main Street, Thornton
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Thornton
Location within Fife
Population2,040 (mid-2020 est.) [1]
OS grid reference NT288974
Council area
Lieutenancy area
Country Scotland
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town KIRKCALDY
Postcode district KY1
Dialling code 01592
Police Scotland
Fire Scottish
Ambulance Scottish
UK Parliament
Scottish Parliament
List of places
UK
Scotland
56°09′50″N3°08′53″W / 56.164°N 3.148°W / 56.164; -3.148 Coordinates: 56°09′50″N3°08′53″W / 56.164°N 3.148°W / 56.164; -3.148

Thornton (Scots : Thorntoun) [2] is a village in Fife, Scotland. It is between Kirkcaldy and Glenrothes, and stands between the River Ore and Lochty Burn, [3] which are at opposite ends of the main street. The Church of Scotland parish church was built in 1835 and is located on the Main Street. [4]

Contents

Transport

The village has a small railway station, which is called Glenrothes with Thornton. Although situated at the south end of Thornton, it also serves the Glenrothes area. This rail halt was opened in May 1992, restoring a rail service to Thornton lost when its main line railway station closed in October 1969 [3] as a consequence of the 1963 report by Dr Richard Beeching on the Reshaping of British Railways (the Beeching Report).

The village is well served by local buses, operated by Stagecoach Group in Fife and running between Kirkcaldy and Glenrothes. However, express services between those towns bypass Thornton.

Railways

Thornton Junction railway station was opened in the 1840s on the Edinburgh and Northern Railway. [5] During the first part of the twentieth century, Thornton railway station was situated on the Aberdeen to London main line to the east of the village, at the end of Station Road. To the west, alongside the Dunfermline line, the largest railway marshalling yard in Scotland was built during the 1950s. Though much reduced, this yard is still in use for rail freight services.

Coal mining

In 1957, the Rothes Pit was opened to mine the coal in the rural hinterland surrounding the village. [3] This coal mine was tied very closely to the development of the postwar new town of Glenrothes to the north. [6] The planned long-term benefits were to be huge, and were to be the driver for economic regeneration in Central Fife. In 1961, four years after opening, the huge investment was written off and the mine run down because of unstemmable flooding, and closed in May 1962. [7] Ironically, miners who had worked in older deep pits in the area had forewarned against the development of the Rothes Pit for this very reason. The state-of-the art engineering and design was closed, leaving the huge enclosed concrete wheel-towers standing at Thornton for many years as a forlorn symbol of the collapse until 1993, when the towers were demolished.

Sport

The village is home to the football club Thornton Hibs who compete in the East of Scotland League First Division Conference A and play at Memorial Park.

In season 2007–08, Thornton Hibs reached the semi-finals of the Scottish Junior Cup, only to be beaten 3-0 by Cumnock after extra time; the Hibs had been reduced to ten men, losing their goalkeeper, in the 89th minute when the score was 0-0.

The village also has its own 18-hole golf course: https://www.thorntongolfclub.co.uk/ and bowling club: http://www.thorntonbowlingclub.co.uk/

Culture

The village holds a Highland Games annually every July.

Thornton is also the birthplace of Sir George Sharp, [8] a Labour politician who led the battle against local government reforms in the 1970s.

Other

Thornton has a small (5 MegaWatt) solar farm.

Related Research Articles

Fife Council area of Scotland

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.

Glenrothes Human settlement in Scotland

Glenrothes is a town situated in the heart of Fife, in east-central Scotland. It is about 30 miles (48 km) north of Edinburgh and 30 miles (48 km) south of Dundee. The town had a population of 39,277 in the 2011 census, making it the third largest settlement in Fife and the 18th most populous settlement in Scotland. The name Glenrothes comes from its historical link with the Earl of Rothes, who owned much of the land on which the new town has been built; Glen was added to the name to avoid confusion with Rothes in Moray and in recognition that the town lies in a river valley. The motto of Glenrothes is Ex terra vis, meaning "From the earth strength", which dates back to the founding of the town.

Leven is a seaside town in Fife, set in the east Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies on the coast of the Firth of Forth at the mouth of the River Leven, 8.1 miles (13.0 km) north-east of the town of Kirkcaldy and 6.4 miles (10.3 km) east of Glenrothes.

Fife Circle Line Railway line in Scotland, UK

The Fife Circle is the local rail service north from Edinburgh. It links towns of south Fife and the coastal towns along the Firth of Forth before heading to Edinburgh. Operationally, the service is not strictly a circle route, but, rather, a point to point service that reverses at the Edinburgh end, and has a large bi-directional balloon loop at the Fife end.

South Gyle railway station Railway station in Edinburgh, Scotland

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North Queensferry railway station Railway station in Fife, Scotland

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Aberdour railway station Railway station in Fife, Scotland

Aberdour railway station is a railway station in the village of Aberdour, Fife, Scotland. The station is managed by ScotRail and is on the Fife Circle Line.

Burntisland railway station Railway station in Fife, Scotland

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Kinghorn railway station Railway station in Fife, Scotland

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Glenrothes with Thornton railway station Railway station in Fife, Scotland

Glenrothes with Thornton railway station serves the communities of Glenrothes and Thornton in Fife, Scotland. The station is managed by ScotRail and is on the Fife Circle Line, 31+1⁄4 miles (50.3 km) north of Edinburgh Waverley.

Cardenden railway station Railway station in Fife, Scotland

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Lochgelly railway station Railway station in Lochgelly, Fife, Scotland

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Dunfermline Queen Margaret railway station

Dunfermline Queen Margaret railway station is a railway station in the town of Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. The station is managed by ScotRail and is on the Fife Circle Line, 18+1⁄2 miles (29.8 km) north of Edinburgh Waverley. The station takes its name from the nearby Queen Margaret Hospital. It is the longest railway station name in Scotland.

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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.

Leslie, Fife Human settlement in Scotland

Leslie is a large village and parish on the northern tip of the River Leven Valley, to the west of Glenrothes in Fife. According to the population estimates (2006), the village has a population of 3,092. The village was granted burgh of barony status by James II in 1458 for George Leslie who became the first Earl of Rothes. Later, this was upgraded to a police burgh in 1865.

The Levenmouth rail link is a planned scheme to re-open 5 miles (8 km) of railway line in Fife, Scotland. The link will connect the town of Leven and other settlements in the Levenmouth conurbation with Thornton, and will join the Fife Circle Line at Thornton North Junction. The line is being promoted by Fife Council and the South East Scotland Transport Partnership (SESTRAN). The plan was approved by the Scottish Government on 8 August 2019.

References

  1. ↑ "Mid-2020 Population Estimates for Settlements and Localities in Scotland". National Records of Scotland. 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  2. ↑ List of railway station names in English, Scots and Gaelic – NewsNetScotland
  3. 1 2 3 "Thornton: Overview". Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  4. ↑ "Basic site details: Thornton Chapel". Dictionary of Scottish Architects. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  5. ↑ "Glenrothes with Thornton Railway Station". Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  6. ↑ "My Community: Glenrothes". Fife Council. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  7. ↑ "Rothes Colliery". Northern Mine Research Society. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  8. ↑ "Sir George Sharp". The Scotsman. 14 February 2005. Retrieved 8 November 2018.

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