Crossgates is a village in

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 located close to the junction of the M90 and A92, about two miles east 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 ...

and a similar distance south west of

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath (; sco, Coudenbeith) is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 18 ...

. The village name means 'crossroads': it is situated at the point where the main Dunfermline-

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, ...

road crosses the old Great North Road from

Inverkeithing Inverkeithing ( ; gd, Inbhir Chèitinn) is a port town and parish, in Fife, Scotland, on the Firth of Forth. A town of ancient origin, Inverkeithing was given royal burgh status during the reign of Malcolm IV in the 12th century. It was an impo ...

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 ...

. According to the 2011 census, the village has a population of 2,458. Crossgates has a long history of mining, both deep and opencast. In 2008 ATH Resources opened an opencast mine at Muir Dean to the south of the village, with the intention of removing 2,000,000 tons of coal. Planning permission for the mine was initially refused by Fife Council but the decision was later overturned by the Scottish Government. In April 2011, an application for an extension to the Muir Dean mine was lodged by ATH Resources to extend the surface mine to the south, which was granted. ATH Resources went into administration, leaving an ecological disaster with an uncertain future at the time. The majority of reparation works have now been completed, with the former mine infilled, and the landscape returned to farmland. Crossgates is designated, via a sign-post, as "Fife's first energy efficient village", though there is no evidence for this.

Education

The village has one school, Crossgates Primary School, which also contains a nursery and under 3 provision. The school is split into 8 classes with around 210 students in the school. The school originally dates from 1920. Students from Crossgates Primary typically attend,

Beath High School Beath High School is a non-denomational state secondary school in Cowdenbeath, Fife. The school is run by Fife Council and the current roll stands at around 1200 pupils aged from 11 to 18. It serves Cowdenbeath and Kelty and the villages of Cr ...

which is the nearest high school to Crossgates.

Sport

Football

Crossgates is home to the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club Crossgates Primrose, who compete in the

East of Scotland League The East of Scotland Football League (EoSFL) is a senior football league based in the east and south-east of Scotland. The league sits at levels 6–9 on the Scottish football league system, acting as a feeder to the Lowland Football League. Fo ...

. The club play at Humbug Park in the village. Former Scottish International and Rangers player

Jim Baxter James Curran Baxter (29 September 1939 – 14 April 2001) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a left half. He is generally regarded as one of the country's greatest ever players. He was born, educated and started his career i ...

started his career with the club before signing for

Raith Rovers Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the Scottish Championship as a member of the Scottish Professional Football Leagu ...

Lawn Bowls

Crossgates has its own Bowling Club which is located to the rear of the Community Centre (Miners' Institute) and has been there since 1940.

Notable residents

Stuart Adamson William Stuart Adamson (11 April 1958 – 16 December 2001) was a Scottish rock guitarist and singer. Adamson began his career in the late 1970s as a founding member and performer with the punk rock band Skids. After leaving Skids in 1981, he ...

, guitarist of

The Skids Skids are a Scottish punk rock and new wave band, formed in Dunfermline in 1977 by Stuart Adamson (guitar, keyboards, percussion and backing vocals), William Simpson (bass guitar and backing vocals), Thomas Kellichan (drums) and Richard Jo ...

Big Country Big Country are a Scottish rock band formed in Dunfermline, Fife, in 1981. The height of the band's popularity was in the early to mid 1980s, although it has retained a cult following for many years since. The band's music incorporated Scott ...

and

The Raphaels The Raphaels were an alternative country music band, fronted by Scottish guitarist Stuart Adamson, formerly of Skids and Big Country. The duo also featured Nashville songwriter Marcus Hummon. The duo only toured briefly playing various dates ...

. ''"...Stuart’s from Crossgates,..."'' Bill Simpson (Skids bassist, 2007)

External links

Crossgates Primary School website

References

{{authority control Villages in Fife Mining communities in Fife