Scotland, Fife,
Kinghorn, Kinglassie, Kingsbarns, Kingseat,
Kingskettle, Kirkcaldy, Ladybank, Largoward,
Leslie, Letham, Leuchars, Leven.

Map Of Fife

Kinghorn

  A former ferryport in Fife, situated on the Firth of Forth between Burntisland and Kirkcaldy. Created a royal burgh in 1170, Kinghorn's former castle was frequently visited by the Scottish Court, the town's name being included in the title of the earldom of Strathmore and Kinghorne and the offices of Constable of Kinghorn and Keeper of the King's Door. During the Middle Ages the town had a hospice for the poor. In addition to its ferry link with the Lothians, Kinghorn developed into a thriving centre of spinning and shipbuilding and is today a popular holiday resort for caravanners. There are many attractive 18th-century pantiled houses, the 17th-century Cuinzie Neuk, a railway viaduct built in 1847 and Kinghorn Parish Church (1774) with a Sailors' Aisle from an earlier church. To the west of Kinghorn a roadside cross erected in 1886 commemorates Alexander III, the last of Scotland's Celtic kings, who fell to his death from the cliff top here in March 1286.
Kinghorn has a lifeboat station, primary school, leisure centre, football ground, sailing club and 18-hole golf course.

Kinglassie

Formerly known as Goatmilk, the village of Kinglassie lies to the north of the Lochty Burn 3 miles (4.8 km) south-west of Glenrothes. It was given to the monks of Dunfermline by Alexander I, but little of antiquity remains except for the Dogton Stone with its Celtic Cross situated in a farm steading a mile to the south. For many years Kinglassie was a weaving village but in the 19th and 20th centuries it developed as a mining town.
It has a primary school, Mitchell Hall (1896), library and Miners' Welfare Institute (1931). Fife Airport lies one mile to the north and on a hill overlooking the farm of Redwells stands Blythe's Folly, a 52-ft (15.6-m)-high tower built in 1812 by an eccentric Leith shipowner.

Kinglassie Parish

A parish in W Fife lying between the River Leven and the River Ore and traversed by the Lochty Burn which passes by its chief settlement - the village of Kinglassie.

Kingsbarns

A village in E Fife 6 miles (10 km) south-east of St Andrews. The barns, now long gone, that gave the place its name supplied the royal residences at Crail and Falkland in medieval times and little remains of the harbour that was built c.1810 by the Earl of Kellie to ship grain and potatoes to Newcastle and London as well as import coal and drainage tiles for the local farming community. There are several fine 18th and 19th century buildings including Kingsbarns House built in 1794 by John Corstorphine and a primary school dating from 1822 which is the oldest still in use in Fife. The village was designated a conservation area in 1973.
To the south is Cambo House and Garden.

Kingseat

A former mining village in W Fife, situated 1.5 miles (2 km) north of Halbeath and south of Loch Fitty.

Kingskettle

  A village in the Howe of Fife, situated to the south of the River Eden and west of the A92 between Glenrothes and Cupar. Known locally as Kettle (the name of the parish), it is said to take its name from the cathel or battle that took place here between Scots and Danes. The village developed in the 19th century with the creation of the turnpike road c.1800 and the opening of the railway to Cupar in 1847, linen weaving and the working of coal and lime being major sources of employment.

Kirkcaldy

Known as the 'Lang Toun', Kirkcaldy stretches out in a wide sweeping arc along the coast of the Firth of Forth.  It is the largest town in Fife and was the administrative centre of Kirkcaldy District from 1975 to 1996. Gifted to the monks of Dunfermline Abbey in 1364, the town's status as a royal burgh was confirmed by Charles II in 1661. Kirkcaldy grew up around its harbour near the mouth of the East Burn and expanded rapidly in the 19th century with the development of textile, linoleum and coal industries.
  Adam Smith (1723-90), the political economist and author of The Wealth of Nations came from Kirkcaldy and the novelist John Buchan spent part of his early youth here. Buchan's sister Anna, the novelist O. Douglas, was born in Kirkcaldy and Thomas Carlyle taught here between 1816 and 1819. Other famous sons of Kirkcaldy include the architect Robert Adam (1728-92), the African missionary Dr John Philp (1775-1851) and Sir Sandford Fleming (1827-1915) who became Chief Engineer of the Canadian Pacific Railway and invented the Standard Time used internationally from 1883. Today Kirkcaldy encompasses the former burghs of Dysart, Linktown and Pathhead as well as the villages of Sinclairtown and Gallatown and part of the Raith Estate. Its town centre was designated a conservation area in 1980 and amongst many interesting buildings are the Old Parish Church whose Norman Tower dates from c.1500, 15th-century Ravenscraig Castle, 17th-century Sailor's Walk, Kirkcaldy Art Gallery and Museum (1925), the Adam Smith Centre (1894-99), the Nordic style Town House designed in 1937 by David Carr, Dunnikier House (built in the 1790s and now a hotel), Balwearie Community School dating from the 1960s, and St Brycedale Church (1877-81) which rises to 200 ft (60 m) and takes its name from Kirkcaldy's patron saint.
Kirkcaldy has one of Scotland's largest indoor markets and Fife College of Further and Higher Education offers over 60 Higher National Programmes at its five campuses.

Ladybank

  A railway town in the Howe of Fife to the north of the River Eden and south-west of Cupar. Ladybank developed during the latter half of the 19th century at a railway junction built on land drained during the 18th century and formerly known as the Moss of Monegae or Our Lady's Bog. Lady's Bog was changed to the more elegant Ladybank and the name Monkstown which is applied to the southern quarter of the town is the only part of the settlement that predates the building of the railway in the 1850s. It is a reminder of the days when the monks of Lindores Abbey used to cut peat here.
  The town was designated a burgh in 1878 and developed linen and maltings industries. Its railway station is reckoned to be the oldest unaltered station in Scotland. Ladybank has an 18-hole golf course and there are forest walks in the neighbouring Heatherhall Wood. Sand and gravel are extracted at Melville Gates.

Largoward

  A former mining village in E Fife, situated in a rural setting at a road junction 4 miles (6 km) north-east of Upper Largo. Falkland Palace was supplied with coal from mines which operated here until the 1920s. It has an inn and a church built in 1835.

Leslie

  A burgh town in central Fife, situated on a ridge overlooking the River Leven to the west of Glenrothes. Originally known as Fettykill, its name was changed to Leslie in 1283 when Norman de Leslie obtained a grant of land here. Leslie House, designed by Sir William Bruce, was built by John Leslie who was Lord Chancellor in the reign of Charles II and was created Duke of Rothes. The town flourished as a centre of spinning, bleaching and papermaking in the 19th century, much of its industrial activity taking place by the River Leven.
Created a burgh of barony in 1458, Leslie's ridge-top medieval layout is still visible. To the west, the Prinlaws quarter of town was developed for factory workers by the enlightened industrialist John Fergus and to the east, outside Christ's Church on the Green, stands the Bull Stone, a relic of bull-baiting at medieval fairs. Leslie is still a centre of papermaking.

Letham

  An attractive village in Monimail Parish NE Fife, 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Cupar. The heart of the old village is approached by a row of 18th and 19th century cottages. Sand and gravel are extracted from the nearby Mountcastle Quarry.

Leuchars

  A village in NE Fife situated 6 miles north-west of St Andrews. Lying to the south of the Castle Knowe where Leuchars Castle once stood, it developed following the drainage of the surrounding area in the 18th century and the coming of the railway in 1848. The prosperity of Leuchars was further ensured with the establishment first of a Royal Navy (1917) and then a Royal Air Force (1920) Station. Each September there is a Battle of Britain airshow at RAF Leuchars. The 12th-century Parish Church of St Athernase has been described as 'the second finest piece of Norman work in the whole of Great Britain'. Nearby are Earlshall Castle and Tentsmuir Forest.

Leven

  A town on the Firth of Forth at the mouth of the River Leven forming an extensive urban area with the Fife coast burghs of Methil and Buckhaven. It is the only town in the parish of Scoonie whose church was gifted in the 11th century to the Celtic Culdees of Loch Leven at the source of the River Leven. By the 16th century a harbour and village had emerged close to the church, the settlement being elevated to the status of a burgh of barony. During the next 300 years its industries expanded to include weaving, bleaching, spinning, coal mining, salt extraction, fishing and the manufacture of rope. During the 19th century its port activity declined with the silting up of its harbour and the building of the Methil Dock to the south of the River Leven, but with the arrival of the railway the town began to develop as a holiday centre, with two 18-hole golf courses (Scoonie and Leven Links), and the Letham Glen park.

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