Map Of Fife

  An attractive example of an old Scottish burgh in W Fife, situated on the River Forth 7 miles (11 km) west of Dunfermline. Created a royal burgh in 1588, Culross was the legendary birthplace of St Kentigern (or St Mungo). An abbey was founded here in 1217 by Malcolm, 7th earl of Fife, and during the 17th century salt panning, coal mining, weaving and trade with the Low Countries from the foreshore port of Sandhaven were developed, chiefly by the enterprising local merchant Sir George Bruce. Another famous product of the town at that time was the iron baking girdle.
  The town is rich in 17th and 18th century cobbled lanes and buildings, many of which have been restored by the National Trust for Scotland. Amongst the main historic landmarks are: The Palace, built by Sir George Bruce in the 16th century; 13th-century Culross Abbey, a Cistercian foundation; the Town House (1626); and The Study (1633) with its corbelled top storey.

  A burgh town in NE Fife, situated on the River Eden at the east end of the Howe of Fife 12 miles (19 km) west of St Andrews. The former county town of Fife and seat of the Sheriff of Fife, Cupar received its royal charter in 1328 along with the right to trade through a port near Guardbridge on the coast. The town subsequently developed as an administrative and agricultural market centre, functions that continued until 1975 when Glenrothes became the new county town and 1994 when the local market was closed.
  Its castle, the seat of the earls of Fife, was the scene in 1535 of the first performance of Ane Pleasant Satyre of the Thrie Estaitis by Sir David Lindsay, a courtier of James V born at the Mount to the north-west of Cupar.
  Historic buildings include Preston Lodge, the 17th-century town house of the Prestons of Airdrie; the 17th-century Chancellor's House which was the birthplace of John Campbell who became Lord Chancellor in 1859; the County Buildings (c.1812-17); the Corn Exchange; the Mercat Cross (1683); the Duncan Institute (1870); and the Old Parish Church (St Michael of Tarvit).
  Between 1926 and the 1970s Scotland's only sugar beet factory operated outside Cupar. Today Cupar has newspaper, printing, grain milling, food processing, chemical, furniture and construction industries, some of which are located to the east of the town in the Prestonhall Industrial and Cupar Trading Estates. It is also the home of Elmwood College (horticulture and farming), and the Bell-Baxter High School which evolved from the Madras Academy (founded in 1831 by Andrew Bell) and an educational institute 'for young ladies' (founded in 1871 by Lady Baxter of Kilmaron Castle to the north of Cupar).
  The town also has a sports centre (Eden Park Leisure Centre), a 9-hole golf course and the Douglas Bader Garden for the disabled as well as angling, curling, football, rugby, cricket, tennis and bowling facilities.

  A village in the parish of Cupar, NE Fife, situated between Cupar and Springfield.  It was once associated with the quarrying of stone and more famously with a confrontation in 1559 between the French troops of Mary of Guise (mother of Mary Queen of Scots) and the forces of the Protestant Lords of the Congregation. A truce that ultimately led to the withdrawal of the French was a turning point in the Reformation struggle.

A linear village in E Fife, situated on the A91 3 miles (4 km) east of Cupar.  Formerly known as Dairsiemuir or Osnaburgh (after a coarse German linen), its 18th-19th-century cottages were once occupied by linen weavers, many of whom came from Flanders. In addition to its weaving, Dairsie benefited from the development of the turnpike road in the early 19th century.  The village has a modern primary school (1970) and the Dairsie Memorial Hall (1922). To the south, near the River Eden are St Mary's Old Parish Church (1621), the restored late 16th-century Dairsie Castle and the massive triple-arched Dairsie Bridge (c.1530).

  A commuter settlement between Inverkeithing and Aberdour overlooking Dalgety Bay, an inlet of the Firth of Forth.  Its development largely dates from 1962 prior to the opening of the Forth Bridge two years later. Built on the lands of the former Donibristle Estate, it was the first private development of a new town in Scotland.  Historic buildings include the 13th-century St Bride's Church, the refurbished Donibristle Stables and Dalgety Kirk (1830). To the north lies the Donibristle Industrial Park.

  A hamlet in Abdie Parish, NW Fife, at the junction of the A913 and B936 roads 2 miles (3 km) south-east of Newburgh.  To the north-west stand the ruins of Denmylne Castle, a fortified house of the Balfour family and nearby are Lindores Loch and the old monastic farms of Grange of Lindores, Ormiston, Berryhill and Hilton.

  A burgh town in W Fife, situated 4 miles (6 km) north-west of the Forth Bridge.  Now the second-largest town in Fife, Dunfermline has a history extending back over 1,000 years to the foundation of a chapel by priests of the Celtic Church. It became an important Scottish centre when Malcolm Canmore moved his court here from Forteviot and built a fortress c.1065. Canmore's second wife, Queen Margaret, established the town as an ecclesiastical centre, founding a Benedictine priory that was elevated to the status of an Abbey in 1128. In 1250 Queen Margaret was canonized and her tomb in the abbey became a shrine.
  The importance of Dunfermline declined after the Reformation in the 16th century although James VI gave it a royal charter in 1588 prior to presenting the abbey to his wife as a wedding present. The town's economic fortune was revived during the 18th and 19th centuries with the development of the textile industry producing linen, cotton, woollen and damask goods. From 1975 to 1996 it was the administrative centre of Dunfermline District.
  Today Dunfermline forms the heart of the so-called 'Bridgehead Dunfermline' economic development area and has industries that include printing, financial services and the manufacture of soft drinks, textiles, clothing, electronics and oil drilling equipment. Some of these industries are now located in the Elgin Street and Albany Industrial Estates and in the larger Pitreavie Business Park to the south of the burgh.
  The town, which is the home of the Carnegie Dunfermline Trust (1903), has many public parks, playing fields and community centres in addition to the Carnegie Centre swimming baths, the football park of Dunfermline Football Club and three 18-hole golf courses (Canmore, Pitreavie and Pitfirrane). Queen Margaret and Lynebank hospitals lie to the east and retail parks have been developed near the town centre and at Halbeath to the east.

  A village in Auchtermuchty Parish in the Howe of Fife, situated on the north bank of the River Eden on the B936 a mile south-east of Auchtermuchty. Sometimes known as Daneshalt or Dunshelt, it developed in the 18th and 19th centuries as a meal milling and textile manufacturing village on the Myers Estate.  To the north-west stands Myers Castle which was restored in the 1960s. It was built by John Scrymgeour, Master of the King's Works, who was employed in the construction of Falkland Palace to the south.

  An ancient burgh town on the south coast of Fife, north-east of Kirkcaldy with which it was incorporated in 1930. Said to be named after the cave or desert used as a retreat by St Serf, the town received its royal charter in 1587.
  Once an important coal mining and salt panning centre, it had by the 18th century developed a reputation for the manufacture of linen and nails and as a port trading with the Netherlands. Modern industries include meat processing and the manufacture of soft drinks.
  After years of decline, some of its shorefront buildings (Pan Ha') were restored in 1969 by the National Trust for Scotland under its Little Houses Improvement Scheme. Other interesting buildings include St Serf's Tower (16th c.), the Tolbooth (1567), Dysart House (1756), and the birthplace (now a museum) of John McDouall Stuart (1815-66) who was the first explorer to complete the return jouney traversing Australia from south to north in 1861-62.

  A royal burgh overlooking the Firth of Forth, situated at the western end of a line of settlement that extends along the coast from Elie.  It derives its name both from the ferries that used to arrive here from North Berwick and other ports on the Lothian coast and from Macduff, the Thane or Earl of Fife who is said to have taken refuge from Macbeth in a cave at Kincraig point before being ferried across the Firth of Forth to Dunbar.  There are the remains of a hospice for pilgrims to St Andrews run by Cistercian nuns and golf has been played on the Earlsferry Links since the 16th century. Today Earlsferry is a popular residential resort.

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