Find your way around Kirkcaldy and Dysart

FIRST THINGS FIRST! The best way of finding your away around Kirkcaldy and Dysart is to purchase a copy of Ronald P A Smith's coloured Kirkcaldy Street Plan, available from local bookshops, newagents, petrol filling stations, libraries and the tourist information centre. First published in 1981, the map is now in its 17th edition. At the large scale of 5.7 inches to 1 mile (1:11,100), it is the most detailed town map of its kind available; the only one with comprehensive indexes and locations of antiquities and places of interest; leisure facilities; schools and colleges; places of worship; health and welfare facilities; and other information including the locations of industrial estates, emergency services, etc.

To order by post direct from the publisher, please click on the 'Map Ordering' button at the top of this web page.

ROYAL BURGH OF KIRKCALDY

Kirkcaldy is an attractive industrial town on the northern shores of the Firth of Forth (2001 population: 46,912). Until recently, it was the largest town in Fife. The town received its Royal Burgh charter in 1644, but it had been a burgh of regality dependent on Dunfermline Abbey since the early 14th century. Until comparatively recently, Kirkcaldy straggled along four miles of main thoroughfare, hence its popular name - the 'Lang Toun', its inhabitants being known as 'Langtonians'. Nowadays, most of these same streets, blighted by road widening schemes, both completed and proposed, are probably the least attractive feature of the town and give the passer-by an entirely false impression of the townscape quality elsewhere.

Kirkcaldy is well-known for the manufacture of linoleum, an industry, with its characteristic smell, which was started in 1876 and continues to this day. Previously, textiles was the principal industry, and, before that, its main importance was as a port. The town has been the birthplace of many eminent people, including Adam Smith, the economist, and Robert Adam, the architect. Unfortunately, Kirkcaldy has been very good at allowing its architectural heritage to moulder away, but much of interest remains. On the other hand, it is notable for its fine parks and good shopping centre in which nearly all the main chain stores are located. The High Street (photograph above left) has been pedestrianised and there are two indoor malls (The Mercat, the main one, and The Postings, next to the Bus Station). The town is readily accessible by road and rail, with a fast dual-carriageway link to the M90/Forth Road Bridge and a railway station on the east coast main line.

Antiquities and Places of Interest

Old Parish Church - Dominating Kirk Wynd (photograph on right) is the late 15th century tower of Kirkcaldy's ancient parish kirk. The main part of the church building is about two hundred years old and contains a good variety of stained glass windows. In the churchyard is an interesting collection of old tombstones. The nearby St Brycedale Church (now ecclesiastically united with the Old Kirk under the name St Bryce Kirk) is a large, impressive building with a tall spire which is a significant local landmark.

The Sailors' Walk - Along the High Street are several reminders of the Scottish vernacular architecture which once characterised the Royal Burgh, principally the Sailors' Walk (left), 16th century houses overlooking the harbour and restored by the National Trust for Scotland. Further south, where the High Street and Esplanade diverge, is another interesting building, now known as the Merchant's House. This is thought to date originally from the 16th century and contains fine plasterwork and panelling.

Kirkcaldy Harbour and Dock - After many centuries, commercial trading activities at the port of Kirkcaldy have ceased. Now it seems destined to be turned into a marina; new dockside housing by Morrison Homes (photograph on right) is already under construction.

Ravenscraig Castle - On a clifftop setting eastwards from the harbour, but overlooked by three multi-storey blocks of flats of such a scale that they are plainly visible from Calton Hill in Edinburgh, are the significant remains of Ravenscaig Castle, maintained by Historic Scotland. The castle, which was founded by James II in 1460 and later passed into the ownership of the Sinclair Earls of Orkney, is thought to be one of the first British castles to be systematically designed for defence by firearms. Nearby are two other buildings of interest, the beautiful Path House (formerly Dunnikier House) at the top of The Path, and the Feuars' Arms, a pub notable for the quality of its decorative tiling and stained glass. Although the three 15-storey tower blocks previously referred to are entirely out of scale with the Kirkcaldy townscape, they are at least some of the best of their kind, in terms of the quality of their construction, maintenance and landscaped grounds. The more recent vernacular-revival housing to the west is much more in keeping with tradition, but some of its detailing, particularly the windows, could perhaps have been a little better.

Kirkcaldy Museum - In the centre of the town, adjacent to the railway station, is Kirkcaldy's excellent Museum and Art Gallery. Of particular interest are displays of Wemyss Ware, items made from coal, local historical curiosities, works by Scottish painters and sculptures by local artists.

Tourist Information Centre - Centrally located in the Merchant's House (mentioned above) at Port Brae near the north end of the High Street, this all-year information centre is the place to gather further information on the town and Fife generally, together with assistance in finding accommodation, etc.

Royal Burgh of Dysart

Little over a mile from the Kirkcaldy harbour grew the entirely separate seaport, coal mining and salt making town of Dysart. It effectively became a Royal Burgh in 1594, and its population remained similar to that of Kirkcaldy until the 19th century; then the town started to decay, there was little expansion, and Dysart was incorporated into Kirkcaldy in 1930. The most significant of the town's ancient buildings have been preserved and Dysart is well worth a wander round.

Dysart Tolbooth - At the heart of the ancient royal burgh is the Tolbooth (photograph on right), an impressive seat of one-time municipal power (Kirkcaldy's old tolbooth has long since disappeared!). The lower parts of the building date from 1576, and it was finally embellished with its belfry in 1885. Although there is some pretty awful 1960s 'award-winning' municipal housing in the vicinity, particularly interesting survivals include The Towers (1589), St David's (16th century) and the McDouall Stuart Museum, devoted to the Dysart man who explored Australia.

St Serf's Church - Dominating the lower reaches of Dysart (photograph on left) is St Serf's Tower, unusually severe and large, perhaps more appropriate as a castle than as a feature of a church! It is a pre-Reformation structure, dating from around 1500, and serving as Dysart Parish Church until 1802.

Pan Ha' - Below St Serf's Church is the impressive group of 16th and 17th century houses known as Pan Ha', restored by the National Trust for Scotland in the late 1960s. Nearby are the interesting old harbour, now entirely used for pleasure craft, and a conveniently-located car park, ideal for a walk around town.

Parks and Leisure Facilities

Kirkcaldy is fortunate to possess a particularly fine collection of parks and open spaces, mostly donated by local industrial philanthropists. Beveridge Park, well worth a visit in its own right, was bequeathed to the town in 1890. It contains a fine boating pond (photograph on right), pets corner and extensive floral displays, as well as the more normal games pitches, bowling greens, putting green, tennis courts, etc. On the coast, between Pathhead and Dysart, is Ravenscraig Park, gifted to the burgh by Sir Michael Nairn in 1929. Equally worthy of a visit, this park features an interesting serpentine coastal wall and provides interesting and dramatic approaches to both Ravenscraig Castle and Dysart.

Also donated to the town were the Adam Smith and Beveridge Halls, originally completed in 1899. Since their conversion to the Adam Smith Centre in 1973 (see photograph on left), the building has been increasingly popular as a venue for theatrical and other community and cultural activities. It forms part of an attractive grouping of civic buildings around the War Memorial Gardens on the opposite side of Bennochy Road.

We hope that this information on Kirkcaldy has whetted your appetite for a visit to the town - and remember to buy R P A Smith's Kirkcaldy Street Plan to find your way around!