Local History

Newburgh

Newburgh, in the historic kingdom Fife, is a lively community that has been important historically for centuries. The Benedictine monks set up Lindores Abbey in 1191 and began the heritage of fruit growing the remains important to the area today.

The monks supplied fruit to the royal palaces at Falkland in Fife, Stirling and Edinburgh, and a legacy of 1000 fruit trees remain in this small community with unique varieties of pears, apples and plums arising from a thousand years cultivation.

Indeed the evidence of older settlements in the area are shown by the Pictish ruins and stones on surrounding hills and lochs. There is also a Celtic round tower in nearby Abernethy (one of only two in Scotland).

Newburgh developed into a bustling town in the mid 19th Century with the coming of the railway and was known for its weaving, its salmon fishing and linoleum production. Indeed early in the 20th century it was an extremely popular holiday destination with daily ferries from Perth and Dundee.

At one time it had 29 alehouses to serve the community and its visitors. The legacies of Newburgh's past are celebrated in the annual highland games, Oddfellows walk and autumn fruit festivals and markets.

Dollar

Your holiday cottage is based in a village where there is evidence of settlement as far back as prehistoric times. However the first written accounts of Dollar refer to the Battle of Dollar in 877AD. It was the 15th Century Castle Campbell, built at the top of Dollar Glen, which meant that Dollar became historically important, associated with the Earls of Argyll from 1489. The Earls of Argyll were at the centre of Royal and political life. Indeed in 1556 John Knox visited Castle Campbell, and in January 1563, Mary Queen of Scots stayed in the Castle whilst attending a wedding. However, by 1654 the Castle was burned to the ground. It became a renowned romantic ruin, and by the 1800's was visited by Robert Burns, and Sir Walter Scott. It is now owned by Historic Scotland, who open the Castle and gardens all year round, with a café in the summer months.

In the early 19th Century Dollar began to change and grow. It had a population of 500 and was a village with a bleachworks, small coalmines, a school and a woollen mill. However, in 1818 Dollar Academy was built and the population had tripled in size by 1841. By 1871 Dollar was linked to the east/west railway line). As Dollar Academy grew, education became the main industry of this picturesque village. Though the rail connection was closed in 1963, Dollar has still continued to grow in size, because of the Academy, and the village's central location for commuting.