Ladybank () is a village and former

burgh A burgh is an autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland and Northern England, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when King David I created the first royal burghs. Burg ...

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 Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. It is about north of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, southwest of

Cupar Cupar ( ; gd, Cùbar) is a town, former royal burgh and parish in Fife, Scotland. It lies between Dundee and Glenrothes. According to a 2011 population estimate, Cupar had a population around 9,000, making it the ninth-largest settlement in Fif ...

, close to the River Eden. Its 2006 population was estimated at 1,582.

History

Before the 18th century, this area was mostly marshland. In 1247

Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester (c. 1195 – 25 April 1264), (Roger de Quincy is a subarticle in his father's article.) His dates are given as 1195?-1265 at the beginning of the subarticle, but his death date is given as 25 April 12 ...

granted the monks of

Lindores Abbey Lindores Abbey was a Tironensian abbey on the outskirts of Newburgh, Fife, Newburgh in Fife, Scotland. Now a reduced ruin, it lies on the southern banks of the River Tay, about north of the village of Lindores and is a scheduled ancient monumen ...

the right to cut peat from a peat-moss called Monegre, to which monks gave the name ''Our Lady's Bog'' (the southwestern part of the village is still called ''Monkstown''). Over time this name was shortened to ''Ladybog''. When the

Edinburgh and Northern Railway The Edinburgh and Northern Railway was a railway company authorised in 1845 to connect Edinburgh to both Perth and Dundee. It relied on ferry crossings of the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Tay, but despite those disadvantages it proved extreme ...

was constructed in the 1840s, a junction was built here with lines heading towards

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

and

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

. An engine depot (of which only the disused locomotive shed survives) and a railway station were constructed at the junction. The station was named 'Ladybank Station' rather than 'Ladybog Station', and the village that developed around the station took the name ''Ladybank''. The

Fife and Kinross Railway The Railways of Kinross were a local network of three rural railways which made the town of Kinross in Scotland their objective in the 1850s. They were: * the Fife and Kinross Railway from Ladybank to Kinross; * the Kinross-shire Railway from n ...

, which opened in 1857, used Ladybank as its eastern terminus further increasing the importance of the station.

Ladybank railway station Ladybank railway station serves the town of Ladybank in Fife, Scotland. History The station was opened in 1847 by the Edinburgh and Northern Railway on their line from , being the point at which the line divided into two branches to and Li ...

remains largely unaltered, and may be the oldest unaltered station in Scotland. The village became a burgh in 1878, and became an industrial centre, with

linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong, absorbent, and dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. It also ...

weaving,

coal mining Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

, and

malting Malting is the process of steeping, germinating and drying grain to convert it into malt. The malt is mainly used for brewing or whisky making, but can also be used to make malt vinegar or malt extract. Various grains are used for malting, most ...

the principal industries.

Governance

Local issues in Ladybank are governed by the Ladybank and District

Community Council A community council is a public representative body in Great Britain. In England they may be statutory parish councils by another name, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, or they may be non-statutory bodies. In ...

. It is in the Howe of Fife and Tay Coast ward of Fife Council. It is part of the North East Fife Scottish Parliament constituency and the North East Fife United Kingdom Parliament constituency.

Geography

Ladybank is located about north of

, southwest of

, and southeast of

. It is at OS grid reference NO 30 09, about above

mean sea level There are several kinds of mean in mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. ...

. It is situated in the

Howe of Fife The Howe of Fife is the broad, low-lying valley of the River Eden, lying between the Ochil Hills and the Lomond Hills in Fife, Scotland. ''Howe'', in Scots means a hollow or a plain bounded by hills. The alternative terms ''Laich of Fife'' and ...

, a narrow low-lying plain that follows the course of the River Eden, known for its agriculture.

Demography

At the time of the

United Kingdom 2001 Census A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194. The 2001 UK census was organised by the Office for National ...

the population of Ladybank was 1,487 people. The racial composition of Ladybank's population was 99.6% white (

White British White British is an ethnicity classification used for the native white population identifying as English, Scottish, Welsh, Cornish, Northern Irish, or British in the United Kingdom Census. In the 2011 census, the White British population wa ...

White Irish } White Irish is an ethnicity classification used in the 2011 United Kingdom Census. In the 2011 census, the White Irish population was 1,105,673 or 1.7% of the UK total population. This total includes the White Irish population estimate for ...

, or

White Other The term Other White is a classification of ethnicity in the United Kingdom and has been used in documents such as the 2011 UK Census to describe people who self-identify as white (chiefly European) persons who are not of the English, Welsh, ...

), 0.13%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.13%

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

, and 0.13% mixed or other race. Below is a table outlining population change of Ladybank burgh since 1901.

Landmarks

Ladybank Parish Church was constructed in 1874–76 by architects Peddie & Kinnear. Ladybank golf course was founded in 1879 and a six-hole course designed by

Old Tom Morris Thomas Mitchell Morris (16 June 1821 – 24 May 1908), otherwise known as Old Tom Morris, and The Grand Old Man of Golf, was a Scottish golfer. He was born in St Andrews, Fife, the "home of golf" and location of the St Andrews Links, and died t ...

. The course was expanded to 18 holes in 1961 and has been used as a qualifier for

The Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

Transport

The main road transport route through Ladybank is the A92, which runs along the western edge of the town connecting with Dundee to the north and 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 ...

to the south.

is a mainline railway station with regular service operated by

ScotRail ScotRail Trains Limited, trading as ScotRail ( gd, Rèile na h-Alba), is a Scottish train operating company that is publicly owned by Scottish Rail Holdings on behalf of the Scottish Government. It has been operating the ScotRail franchise a ...

between

and

Education

Ladybank School, constructed in the 1890s, is a

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

. It serves Ladybank and the outlying hamlets of Edenstown and Giffordtown, and is attended by 138 children, who are split into six classes. There are no

secondary schools A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

in the town; most secondary school age children attend Bell Baxter High School in

or St Andrew's RC High School in

Kirkcaldy Kirkcaldy ( ; sco, Kirkcaldy; gd, Cair Chaladain) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, ...

References

External links

Ladybank community web portal
{{authority control Towns in Fife