page_title: Inverkeithing
section_title: Modern era
hierarchical_section_title: Inverkeithing / History / Modern era
caption_attribution_description: English: digital photograph of the Mauretania 2 at the breakers yard
context_page_description: Inverkeithing is a port town and parish, in Fife, Scotland, on the Firth of Forth. According to 2016 population estimates, the town has a population of 4,890, while the civil parish was reported to have a population of 8,090 in 2011.
  Inverkeithing was given royal burgh status during the reign of Malcolm IV in the 12th century. Today it is a developing town with several new housing sites. Inverkeithing is a busy commuter hub, and its railway station is a main stop for trains on the Fife Circle Line that runs north from Edinburgh. It is also home to the Ferrytoll Park & Ride, which offers bus connections across the Forth and to the rest of Fife. Inverkeithing lies on the Fife Coastal Path, one of Scotland's Great Trails.
context_section_description: Daniel Defoe, writing of Inverkeithing in his Tour thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain in 1724, found the town to be "still populous, but decayed, as to what it has formerly been". Defoe also relates that Inverkeithing had briefly become known in England in the early 1700s for a crime of passion in which Robert Balfour, 5th Lord Balfour of Burleigh, murdered an Inverkeithing schoolmaster that had married a woman Balfour loved—the nobleman was later sentenced to death, but escaped captivity by exchanging clothes with his sister. Defoe's sentiments about Inverkeithing were echoed by Sir William Burrell when he toured Scotland in 1758, who found it a "mean, miserable, paultry town, teaching us what to expect from its neighbouring villages". At the time, the parish had a population of over 2,200, but industry had become smaller in scale, although increasingly diverse. Lead and coal were mined, with coal exported in substantial quantities. There was an iron foundry, and by the late 18th century the town had a brewery, tan works, soap works, a salt pan and timber works. A whisky distillery using the water of Keithing Burn was opened in 1795, and operated until the mid-19th century. Its buildings near the railway line in Keith Place were later used for oil works. The importance of fishing declined in line with increasing industrialisation, and by 1891 Inverkeithing only had 14 resident fishermen.
  By the mid-19th century quarrying, engineering and shipbuilding were major industries in the area, and in 1831 the population increased by over 600 in a decade due to an influx of labourers employed in greenstone quarries. These provided material for major works such as the extension of Leith Pier, and some of the piers of the Forth Bridge. By 1870, engineering and shipbuilding had largely ceased, and the harbour lost freight traffic to the railways. As a result, Inverkeithing was no longer on a through route for freight. The opening of the Forth Bridge in 1890, however, led to another surge in incomers and new building. By 1925, quarrying remained a major operation, and whilst the saltworks, iron foundry and sawmill had closed, a papermaking industry had developed at the harbour. Caldwell's paper mill would remain in operation until 2003, and the factory was demolished in 2012.
  At the beginning of the 20th century, Inverkeithing became famous for its shipbreaking at Thos W Ward's yard. Among others, the revolutionary battleship HMS Dreadnought was dismantled here in 1923, as was the hull of the Titanic's sister ship RMS Olympic in 1937, and the second RMS Mauretania in 1966. Today the yard is a metal recycling facility.
caption: Mauretania 2 arriving at Thos W Ward
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