Newburgh, Fife

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Newburgh is a royal burgh of Fife, Scotland.

Pop. (1901) 1904. The population today is only a little greater, at 2040 (est 2004). Being a small town, most residents are aware of each other and their occupations and activities. There are still some public houses but their number is dwindling.

It is situated on the Firth of Tay, 7 m. N.W. of Ladybank Junction by First Scotrail. Newburgh railway station closed in 1951 (pre-Beeching), and has never reopened, despite frequent local campaigns to re-establish some sort of rail link, as trains run through Newburgh on a regular basis.

For some time, its industries chiefly consisted of the making of linen and floorcloth, malting and quarrying, and there were fisheries, especially of salmon. The harbour was used for the transhipment of the cargoes of Perth-bound vessels of over 200 tons. But most of these industries have now gone. A linoleum factory, owned by Courtaulds, which had been the town's principal employer, closed in May 1980 after a large fire destroyed much of the building. After many years of lying derelict, the factory has since been completely demolished and cleared and its site is now a recreational waterfront. Local services and a few shops provide limited employment, but most residents now commute to larger towns. However, one quarry, for many years owned by Bell Brothers, is still operational, and is now owned by Ennstone Thistle. T Robertson & Sons, of Whinpark Quarry, still run a road contractors' business, although the quarry itself is no longer in operation.

The plain Georgian town house, with central tower and spire, was built on the south side of the High Street in 1808. It forms a continuous block with the other houses. The Laing Museum and Library was added to the north side of the street in 1894-96. Museum open in summer only.

On high ground, about 1 mile S.W., stand the remains (only the pedestal) of Macduff's Cross, which (in legend) marks the spot where the clan Macduff in return for its chief's services against Macbeth was granted rights of sanctuary and composition for murder done in hot blood. Nearby, Lochmill Loch has been dammed to provide the town with a water supply and local fishing.

Denmylne Castle (mid 16th century?), about 1 mile south-east of Newburgh on the Cupar road, was the home for more than 250 years of the Balfour of Denmylne family, of which the two brothers, James (1600-1657), the annalist and Lyon King, and Andrew (1630-1694), founder of the Botanic Garden in Edinburgh, were the most distinguished members. The Castle, which stands within a 19th century steading whose construction will have necessitated the removal of the Castle's subsidiary buildings, has been unroofed for at least 200 years, and is in an increasingly dangerous state of disrepair. A lintel dated 1620 has been re-used in one of the steading's building.

Lindores Abbey is situated near the Tay, close to Newburgh, and 1 mile N. of the village of Lindores. Of the Tironensian (reformed Benedictine) abbey, founded about 1190 by David, Earl of Huntingdon, brother of William the Lion, there are only fragmentary remain, although the ground plan of the whole structure can still be traced. Best preserved are the south-west gateway through the precinct wall, various discontinuous fragments of the wall itself, and part of the east cloister range, including the still vaulted slype (passage from the cloister to the east end of the church), all built of local red sandstone. The monastic church itself had a single aisle on the north side, with aisled north and south transepts, a central tower (presumably) and a detached western tower or campanile, as at Cambuskenneth Abbey.

The monks were noted agriculturists and their orchards famous. Many of the houses in Newburgh's High Street have orchards with trees descended from the original plantings, although many plots have now been sold and developed for housing. Numerous architectural fragments from the Abbey are built into buildings in the town.

At Blackearnside, a forest of alders, to the east of the village, Wallace defeated Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke in 1298.

Mugdrum Island, opposite the large Mugdrum estate, is offshore in the Firth dividing it into 'North Deep' and 'South Deep' channels. For many years cattle were ferried over to the island for summer grazing, but this is no longer practised.

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