Cowdenbeath lies in south-western Fife, near the larger town of Dunfermline. The town lies in a low, undulating, arable landscape to the south east of the Ochil Hills. Whilst for the main part Cowdenbeath is fairly level, significant portions of the town have succumbed to subsidence as a result of the network of mine shafts and tunnels underlying the town. , photographs of Cowdenbeath High Street circa 1900 published in Stenlake Publications show a flat High Street in which it is possible to view its entire length from north to south under the overarching railway bridge. This is impossible today, as the subsidence on the High Street has been so great that the railway bridge now obscures the view from one end to the other.