Old Photograph Harbour Leven Fife Scotland

Old photograph of the harbour in Leven, Fife, Scotland. The harbour originally ranked as a creek under Kirkcaldy port, and prior to 1876 was simply the natural inlet at the mouth of the river, difficult of access, but admitting vessels of 300 tons to a small quay built about 1833. Under the Leven Harbour Act, however, of 1876, a new wet dock, a river wall, a protection wall, and a railway siding, were constructed at a cost of £40,000, and opened in 1880. The dock was 500 feet long and 250 broad, and had 16 feet of water on the sill at ordinary tides. Vessels of 800 tons could be loaded, but financially the scheme was not successful, and the trust disposed of the works to the proprietor. The new docks erected at Methil still further lessened the trade. The principal imports were flax and tow, barley, timber, pig-iron, and bones; and the principal exports were coal, linen, and linen yarn, whisky, bone dust, cast iron, and potatoes.



All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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