Scotland, Fife,
Abdie, Aberdour, Anstruther, Arncroach,
Auchterderran, Auchtermuchty, Auchtertool,
Ballingry, Backmuir, Ballingry, Balmalcolm, Balmerino.

Map Of Fife

Abdie Parish

  A parish in NW Fife which stretches from Newburgh on the Firth of Tay to the Loch of Lindores. It includes the village of Lindores and the hamlet of Grange of Lindores, and in its churchyard near Grange of Lindores is a 7th-century Pictish symbol stone. Buried in the same churchyard are John Bethune (d.1839) and his brother Alexander (d.1843) who are remembered as local poets. There is also a monument to Sir Frederick Lewis Maitland (1777-1839), captain of the British warship HMS Bellerophon which took the defeated Napoleon on board in 1815 prior to his exile in St Helena.

Aberdour

  A small resort town on the Firth of Forth between Inverkeithing and Burntisland, situated on a narrow headland which protects the mouth of the Dour Burn; pop. (1991) 1,550. It was formerly two towns: Wester Aberdour, a burgh of barony created in 1501, and Easter Aberdour, a burgh of regality designated in 1638. Once a thriving fishing community, it is now a summer resort with a fine beach (Silver Sands), an18-hole golf course and historic landmarks that include 14th-century Aberdour Castle with a 17th-century walled garden, 17th-century Aberdour House, Aberdour Station (1890) and St Fillan's Kirk whose Romanesque nave and chancel date from the 12th century.  During the summer months there is a ferry from Aberdour Harbour to the island of Inchcolm. Stone for chippings and hard core is quarried nearby.

Anstruther

  Situated on the Firth of Forth in the East Neuk of Fife, the resort town of Anstruther comprises the settlements of Anstruther Easter and Wester, the old fishing village of Cellardyke (formerly Nether or Lower Kilrenny) and the inland rural settlement of Kilrenny (formerly Upper Kilrenny).
Anstruther Easter, which became a burgh of barony in 1572 and a royal burgh in 1587, lies between Caddys Burn on the east and the Dreel Burn on the west. It has a skyline once dominated by the Chalmers Memorial Church (1847), named after Thomas Chalmers, the first moderator of the United Free Church who was born here in 1780. This building was abandoned in 1982 and destroyed by fire in 1991.
  The harbour of Anstruther Easter was the capital of the winter herring fleet prior to the First World War and close to it stands the Scottish Fisheries Museum which was opened in 1969. Other significant landmarks include St Adrian's Parish Church (1634), the Mercat Cross (1677), the Old Corn Mill (1702) and Melville Manse built in 1590 by the diarist the Rev James Melville.
  There are also fragments of Dreel Castle, built in 1663 by Sir Philip Anstruther and visited by Charles II who described its tower room as 'a craw's nest'. This castle was the meeting place of the notorious 'Beggars' Benison of Anstruther' secret society, a 'Scottish Society of an erotic and convivial nature composed of the Nobility and Gentry of Anstruther' founded in 1739.
  Anstruther Wester situated to the west of the Dreel Burn was designated a burgh of barony in 1154 and a royal burgh in the 1580s. Amongst many fine old merchants' houses stands the former parish church of St Nicholas (now St Adrian's Church Hall) with its 16th-century bell tower.
An attractive coastal village with many interesting old buildings, Anstruther was designated a Conservation Area in 1972. For the visitor there are sea angling, diving, swimming and bowling facilities, as well as a 9-hole golf course, and boat trips to the Isle of May.

Arncroach

  A small hamlet in Carnbee Parish, E Fife; pop. (1991) 100. Kellie Castle, the former home of the architect Sir Robert Lorimer, lies to the east.

Auchterderran

  A village in Auchterderran Parish, W Fife, situated to the north of the River Ore, 2 miles north-east of Lochgelly; pop. (1991) 5,300 (with Cardenden). The ancient church of Auchterderran was given by Bishop Fothad to the Culdees of the old Celtic Church in the 11th century, but the present parish church, enlarged in 1890, dates from 1789. No longer dependent on coal mining, this settlement has industries that now include nurseries, mechanical engineering and the manufacture of electrical equipment, clothing, bagpipes and building materials. Auchterderran has a 9-hole golf course.

Auchterderran Parish

  A parish in W Fife to the south-west of Kinglassie and north of Auchtertool. Traversed by the River Ore, its landscape was dramatically altered by over a century of coal mining which developed from the early 19th century and resulted in the former hamlets of Auchterderran, Cardenden, Bowhill and Dundonald all merging into one great mining township.

Auchtermuchty

  A burgh town in NE Fife at the junction of the A91 and A983 roads, 7 miles (11.2 km) west of Cupar; pop. (1991) 1,990. Originally named Uachdarmuc, meaning the 'high ground of the wild boar', its adjacent woods and swamps were the scene of royal boar hunts in ancient times.
The town was granted a royal charter in 1517 and in the 18th and 19th centuries it was a flourishing centre of weaving, bleaching, distilling, and sawmilling. Today its industries produce knitwear, furniture, postcards, structural steelwork, electrochemical sensors, electronic weighing equipment, crafts, and food products.
  Amidst a townscape of red pantiles, crow-stepped gables, and the occasional thatched roof (originally using the rushes of Lindores Loch), fine buildings include Macduff House (1597), the Town House (1728), the Parish Church (1779-81), and the Boar's Head (a 19th-century coaching inn now called the Forest Hills Hotel).
  The old-world streets of Auchtermuchty feature in the TV series 'Dr Finlay's Casebook' and amongst the town's most famous sons are the accordionist and band leader Jimmy Shand and the internationally popular singing duo known as The Proclaimers.

Auchtertool

  A village in a parish of the same name that lies between Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath in SW Fife; pop. (1991) 430. Formerly on lands held by the Bishop of Dunkeld and now incorporating the small satellite settlement of Newbigging, the village once stood at the junction of roads linking Dunfermline to Kirkcaldy and the Kinghorn ferry to Perth. The solitary parish church to the west of the village was rebuilt in 1833 and to the N stand the ruins of Hallyards which was erected by Sir James Kirkcaldy of Grange, Lord High Treasurer to James V. Candleford House, a former manse, and Auchtertool House were both built in the early 19th century. A distillery was also established in the 19th century, but today Auchtertool is a centre of farming and engineering with a primary school and a nursing home.

Backmuir of New Gilston

  A hamlet on the northern border of Largo Parish in the East Neuk of Fife, 5 miles (8 km) north of Upper Largo.

Ballingry

  A small town to the south of Benarty Hill in W Fife; pop. (1991) 3,680. The old Kirkton of Ballingry developed as a mining settlement after 1870. Its ancient church, rebuilt in 1831, features in Sir Walter Scott's novel The Abbot. A gas plant and former open cast mine lie to the east at Westfield. There is a 9-hole golf course.

Ballingry Parish

  A parish in W Fife to the south of Benarty Hill, sometimes referred to as the parish of Inchgall.  Formerly an agricultural parish, its landscape was transformed by deep-seam coal mining which began in 1870 and ceased in 1966. During this period the small hamlets of Kirkton of Ballingry, Lochore, Crosshill and Glencraig amalgamated into one large mining township. The Lochty Burn and the River Ore rise in Ballingry Parish.

Balmalcolm

  An 18th-century farming and weaving village in Kettle Parish, central Fife, situated on the A92 between Kettlebridge and Pitlessie. It is a centre of local farm produce.

Balmerino

  A small fishing village and former port on the Firth of Tay, N Fife; pop. (1991) 120. Balmerino Abbey, a Cistercian monastery founded in 1229 by the widowed queen of William the Lyon, was destroyed during the Reformation but in 1936 its remains were given into the care of the National Trust for Scotland by the Earl of Dundee. A Spanish Chestnut tree here is one of the oldest of its kind in the country. The village was designated a Conservation Area in 1987.

Balmerino Parish

  A parish in N Fife between Kilmany and the Firth of Tay. Balmerino, Bottomcraig and Gauldry are its chief settlements.

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