Cairneyhill is a village in West

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

, Scotland. It is 3 miles west of

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; sco, Dunfaurlin, gd, Dùn Phàrlain) is a city, parish and former Royal Burgh, in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. The city currently has an estimated population of 58,508. Accord ...

, on the A994, and has a population of around () The village's architecture is a mix of old weavers' cottages and modern suburban housing estates. The village is located north and west of the A985, a major trunk road that provides fast travel by car or bus to the

Kincardine Bridge The Kincardine Bridge is a road bridge crossing the Firth of Forth from Falkirk council area to Kincardine-on-Forth, Kincardine, Fife, Scotland. History The bridge was constructed between 1932 and 1936, to a design by Sir Alexander Gibb & Part ...

, the

M90 Motorway The M90 is a motorway in Scotland. It runs from Junction 1A of the M9 motorway, south of the Queensferry Crossing, to Perth. It is the northernmost motorway in the United Kingdom. The northern point goes to the western suburbs of Perth at ...

and the

Queensferry Crossing The Queensferry Crossing (formerly the Forth Replacement Crossing) is a road bridge in Scotland. It was built alongside the existing Forth Road Bridge and carries the M90 motorway across the Firth of Forth between Edinburgh, at South Queensfer ...

Forth Road Bridge The Forth Road Bridge is a suspension bridge in east central Scotland. The bridge opened in 1964 and at the time was the longest suspension bridge in the world outside the United States. The bridge spans the Firth of Forth, connecting Edinbur ...

. The

Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is the estuary, or firth, of several Scottish rivers including the River Forth. It meets the North Sea with Fife on the north coast and Lothian on the south. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate of ''fjord'', a Norse word meani ...

is located 1.5 miles south of Cairneyhill, which is 1 mile (1.6 km) west of Crossford.

Amenities

Cairneyhill hosts a number of local businesses and other amenities. There are two shops (one contains a post office), a garden centre, a petrol station, a number of housing estates, a guest house (The Maltings), a local pub (the Cairneyhill Inn), a primary school, a Scout hall, and a small industrial estate. There is a golf course, The Forrester Park Resort, which has two restaurants and a driving range. There is also a hairdresser.

History

The name is

Scots language Scots ( endonym: ''Scots''; gd, Albais, ) is an Anglic language variety in the West Germanic language family, spoken in Scotland and parts of Ulster in the north of Ireland (where the local dialect is known as Ulster Scots). Most commonly ...

for ''rocky hill'', the village is, in fact, on a noticeable hill. Old maps before 1800 make little mention of the name, the area usually being marked as Pitdinny or Pitdinnie, which is still found in a local farm on the eastern edge, as well as an area of housing in the village. The village grew in the 18th century as a settlement for local weavers and was served by the parish church that was built in 1752 and is still used today. This was a hotbed of

dissenter A dissenter (from the Latin ''dissentire'', "to disagree") is one who dissents (disagrees) in matters of opinion, belief, etc. Usage in Christianity Dissent from the Anglican church In the social and religious history of England and Wales, and ...

s and the village was a central point for the religious disputes in Scotland in the early 19th century. There is a small bridge over the Torry Burn at the west end of the village known as the "Conscience Bridge". This name arises from local legend, in which a murderer was caught and confessed to his crime on the bridge and hanged himself. The line of the road has been straightened and widened over the years, with only the original north parapet remaining, but the name of the bridge is carved into a plaque which can be seen by leaning over the wall.

Schools

Cairneyhill is served by Cairneyhill Primary School, which opened in its current location in July 1980 with 110 pupils, and as of 2014 had 372 pupils. It has 11 classrooms over 2 buildings. The Headteacher currently is Fiona Hall. On 8 December 2017, part of the school was destroyed by a fire. All of the pupils and staff were evacuated and there were no injuries.

Burn

The Torry Burn runs through the village. There are seven bridges that cross the burn – four footbridges and three road bridges.

References

External links

History of Cairneyhill ChurchView a map of Cairneyhill
{{authority control Villages in Fife