Charlestown Fife Scotland

Charlestown, Fife, Scotland. Charlestown in 1846. Charlestown, a village and small sea-port, in the parish and district of Dunfermline, county of Fife, 3 miles (S. W. by S.) from Dunfermline; containing 772 inhabitants. This village, which is situated on the north shore of the Firth of Forth, was founded for the accommodation of the persons employed in the extensive collieries and lime-works of the Earl of Elgin, in the immediate neighbourhood. It is well built, and has a neat and pleasing appearance; the surrounding scenery is enlivened by the well-planted demesne of Broomhall, the seat of the earl, and the inhabitants are generally in easy circumstances. The manufacture of various articles of cast-iron and brass, for which a foundry has been established, is carried on to a moderate extent; and there are some extensive limekilns, in which the limestone obtained from the quarries is burnt. The produce of the Elgin collieries, and the limestone from the quarries, are conveyed by railways from the mines, to the harbour here, for exportation; the quantity of coal shipped annually, is estimated at 120,000 tons; of limestone, 15,000 tons, and of shell-lime, about 400,000 bushels. The harbour is spacious, and has been deepened and greatly improved within the last few years, and great facility of communication has recently been afforded by the erection of a wooden pier, for the steamboats plying in the Frith, which touch at this place. A school is supported by the Earl of Elgin.