Home Report Cowdenbeath

Cowdenbeath is a town and former burgh in Fife, with a population of roughly 11,600 residents. It lies about five miles northeast of Dunfermline and about 18 miles north of Edinburgh. The closest nearby towns are Lochgelly and Kelty. Cowdenbeath and Lochgelly are separated by the village of Lumphinnans.

Cowdenbeath has had some form of settlement since the bronze age, and from the 17th and part of the 18th centuries was mainly comprised of few residents in a collection of farms. It wasn’t until the early 1820s that Cowdenbeath began to come to prominence, then a stop on the north-bound coach route to Perth, but still with a population of roughly 120 residents. A few decades later the foundations of the town as we know it today began to form when plentiful coal seems were discovered in the nearby area. This led to a rapid expansion and influx of workers and residents to the area so much so that the population had risen to over 8000 by the turn of the 20th century.

Coal mining was extremely important to the area, as we now know the inevitable decline of the industry came, but there is still plenty of evidence of its industrial past. Nowadays, Cowdenbeath is predominantly a commuter town for the wider area, with many residents working in Dunfermline, Kirkaldy, and Edinburgh.

As such, transport links are very good. Cowdenbeath train station has regular services to the nearby area and a service reaching Edinburgh Waverly in under an hour. Road links are very good with the A92, M90, A985 and A90 roads offering quick connections to the nearby villages and towns as well as on to Falkirk, Edinburgh, Perth, and further still to Glasgow and Dundee.

Local amenities include the usual independents and chain names, as well as your typical local pubs and cafes. Worth a specific mention though is the local Racewall where a calendar of stock car and cart racing take place regularly, so much so it has been dubbed “The Home of Scottish Stock Car Racing”. Cowdenbeath’s proximity to its larger neighbour of Dunfermline allows residents to take advantage of all the amenities within.

In terms of local education, there are three primary schools in the town. Cowdenbeath Primary School, Foulford Primary School and St. Bride’s Primary School. Cowdenbeath is also served by one secondary school: Beath High School.