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Crossford is a small village located in West
Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...
,
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
. Its population was 2,358 in 2011. It is 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) west of the city
Dunfermline Dunfermline (; , ) is a city, parish, and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. Dunfermline was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of Scotland between the 11th and 15th centuries. The earliest ...
, east of
Cairneyhill Cairneyhill is a village in West Fife, Scotland. It is 3 miles west of Dunfermline, 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 ...
, astride the A994. The village has mixed housing with large housing estates on the southwest and northwest ends. Most residents work either locally or commute to
Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
or
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
. Crossford lies north of the
Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is a firth in Scotland, an inlet of the North Sea that separates Fife to its north and Lothian to its south. Further inland, it becomes the estuary of the River Forth and several other rivers. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate ...
and from
Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
.


Bus Routes

The village sits on the main bus route X24 X27 from
Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...
to Central
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
's
Buchanan Bus Station Buchanan Bus Station (originally Buchanan Street Bus Station) is the main bus terminus in Glasgow, Scotland, and is located between the Townhead and Cowcaddens districts on the north eastern side of the city centre. It is the terminus for ...
. Bus routes 8, and 8A go to High Vallyfield and Stirling. Bus route 89 goes to St Margarets Hospital in
Dunfermline Dunfermline (; , ) is a city, parish, and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. Dunfermline was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of Scotland between the 11th and 15th centuries. The earliest ...
and then to
North Queensferry North Queensferry is a historic coastal village in Fife, Scotland, situated on the Firth of Forth, from Edinburgh city centre. Located on the North Queensferry Peninsula, it is the southernmost settlement in Fife. The town derives its name fro ...
. Dunfermline City rail station is away.


Local Facilities

Crossford
Primary School A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...
was built in 1973 replacing the old school that was located on the North side of the A994 halfway between
Cairneyhill Cairneyhill is a village in West Fife, Scotland. It is 3 miles west of Dunfermline, 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 ...
and Crossford. The school has ten teaching areas in a semi-open plan arrangement, plus a separate nursery class. There is a grass playing field for football and other sports. At the park there is a Scout hall (with
Scouts Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...
and
Girl Guides Girl Guides (or Girl Scouts in the United States and some other countries) are organisations within the Scout Movement originally and largely still for girls and women only. The Girl Guides began in 1910 with the formation of Girlguiding, The ...
held weekly). On Main Street, the Village Hall is used by a variety of organisations including; Crossford Playgroup, Crossford Ladies Group, SWRI, Zumba classes, religious meetings, and Crossford Community Council. The highlights of the social year in Crossford are probably the Children's Gala events held over the year to raise funds for the November Fireworks and the Gala Week, with daily events, each June. The Children's Gala has been held since 1955 and is organised by the Crossford Gala Committee for children from the village.


Businesses and employment

Businesses in the village include a
Pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...
and
Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...
,
supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selecti ...
(Co-operative),
bakers A baker is a tradesperson who baking, bakes and sometimes Sales, sells breads and other products made of flour by using an oven or other concentrated heat source. The place where a baker works is called a bakery. History Ancient histo ...
, hairdresse,
beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, and Day spa#Medical spa, medical spas. Beauty treatme ...
, chip shop, with garage and fireplace sales situated to the east. The Adamson Hotel formerly known as The Pitfirrane Arms Hotel is in the centre of the village and is one of the few original Coaching Inns left in Scotland. The Keavil House Hotel stands in of grounds to the west of Crossford and its meeting facilities, restaurant and health club with swimming pool are an amenity for the village and surrounding area.


Sport

Crossford boasts the
King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. George was born during the reign of his pa ...
Memorial Park playing fields, opened in 1950 by the Countess of Elgin. The land was gifted by the Halkett family of the Pitfirrane Estate. The community itself paid for the establishment of the facilities together with a Major Fiddes of the
National Playing Fields Association Fields in Trust is a British charity set up in 1925 as the National Playing Fields Association (NPFA), by Brigadier-General Reginald Kentish and the Duke of York, later King George VI, who was the first president, which protects parks and green s ...
. New sports facilities in King George V Memorial Park were unveiled on 8 May 2005. The floodlit, all-weather multi court was proposed by ''Crossford Recreation and the Environment'', and will be used by schools and the community for
five-a-side football Five-a-side football is a version of minifootball, in which each team fields five players (four Outfield#In association football, outfield players and a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper). Other differences from association football ...
,
tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
,
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
,
hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...
, and
netball Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...
. To the southeast of Crossford the Dunfermline Golf Club has an 18-hole
golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...
. The Halkett family owned the Pitfirrane Estate until 1951, living in the Pitfirrane Castle which has become the clubhouse. Crossford is an ideal centre for walking. Numerous pathways radiate from the village, to Dean Woods and Milesmark in the north, to Pitliver and
Limekilns Limekilns is a historic coastal village in Fife, Scotland. It lies on the shore of the Firth of Forth, around south of Dunfermline and 13 miles (21km) northwest of Edinburgh. Limekilns has a medieval past as a fishing village, dating back t ...
/ Charlestown in the south, to
Cairneyhill Cairneyhill is a village in West Fife, Scotland. It is 3 miles west of Dunfermline, 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 ...
in the west and to
Pittencrieff Park Pittencrieff Park (known locally as "The Glen") is a public park in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. It was purchased in 1902 by Andrew Carnegie, and given to the people of Dunfermline in a ceremony the following year. Its lands include the historic ...
at
Dunfermline Dunfermline (; , ) is a city, parish, and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. Dunfermline was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of Scotland between the 11th and 15th centuries. The earliest ...
, in the east. To the north of the village, near Dean Woods, there is a paved cycle track which extends from
Dunfermline Dunfermline (; , ) is a city, parish, and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. Dunfermline was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of Scotland between the 11th and 15th centuries. The earliest ...
to
Clackmannan Clackmannan ( ; , perhaps meaning "Stone of Manau"), is a small town and civil parish set in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Situated within the Forth Valley, Clackmannan is south-east of Alloa and south of Tillicoultry. The town is within ...
.


History

Crossford can trace its history back into the distant past with Bronze Age discoveries having been made on Craigs Farm indicating agricultural activity into antiquity. Crossford is said to take its name from the ford crossed by
monks A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...
on their way between the
abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christians, Christian monks and nun ...
s of
Dunfermline Dunfermline (; , ) is a city, parish, and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. Dunfermline was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of Scotland between the 11th and 15th centuries. The earliest ...
and
Culross Culross (/ˈkurəs/) (Scottish Gaelic: ''Cuileann Ros'', 'holly point or promontory') is a village and former royal burgh, and parish, in Fife, Scotland. According to the 2006 estimate, the village has a population of 395. Originally, Culross ...
. and together with the early agricultural activity this seems to form the main part of the activity in the village. In the 16th century the village found a new life as coal and ironstone were mined from the lands of Pitfirrane under a charter granted to the Lairds of Pitfirrane (the Halkett family) by Queen Mary. The produce of this activity was then transported down the Waggon Road to
Limekilns Limekilns is a historic coastal village in Fife, Scotland. It lies on the shore of the Firth of Forth, around south of Dunfermline and 13 miles (21km) northwest of Edinburgh. Limekilns has a medieval past as a fishing village, dating back t ...
for shipping via the port there. The Halketts enjoyed a privilege to ship free of duty to all foreign lands until 1788 when the government purchased the right for £40,000. The uppermost 4 inches and lowermost 2 inches of ironstone were said to be of such high quality as to be suitable for the making of cannon, and the produce was shipped to the
Carron Company The Carron Company was an ironworks established in 1759 on the banks of the River Carron near Falkirk, in Stirlingshire, Scotland. After initial problems, the company was at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution in the United Kingdom. Th ...
ironworks for that purpose. The introduction of the Turnpike Act in 1796 brought about the installation of a tollbar on the Waggon Road. The building housing this still exists on the crossroads in the centre of the village. At the beginning of the 19th century, it is recorded that some 50
handloom A loom is a device used to weaving, weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the Warp (weaving), warp threads under tension (mechanics), tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of ...
s were in use in the village with a population of 380 persons. This follows a pattern in the area for such weaving communities, another example being Gowkhall a few miles north. The
Earls of Elgin Earl of Elgin ( ) is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in 1633 for Thomas Bruce, 3rd Lord Kinloss. He was later created Baron Bruce, of Whorlton in the County of York, in the Peerage of England on 30 July 1641. The Earl of Elgin is th ...
owned land in the Crossford area in connection with the Elgin Colliery (at Parkneuk and Baldridge Burn, northwest of Dunfermline) and the Elgin Railway that ran from the colliery round Crossford and then down beside Waggon Road and on to Charlestown harbour. The route of the railway and the site of the Elgin Colliery are shown in a map in Chalmers' book, ''Historical and Statistical Account of Dunfermline.'' Photographs are available online of where the railway was.See this RailScot website: http://www.railbrit.co.uk/location.php?loc=Elgin%20Railway ''Retrieved 2012-02-28'' An 1856 map shows a
brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of b ...
at the west end of the village, and whinstone quarry to the north of the main road. During World War I the modern day Keavil House Hotel was used by the Admiralty as a location to base high-ranking officers, the naval base at
Rosyth Rosyth () is a town and Garden City in Fife, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth. Scotland's first Garden city movement, Garden City, Rosyth is part of the Greater Dunfermline Area and is located 3 miles south of Dunfermline city cen ...
(
Rosyth Dockyard Rosyth Dockyard is a large Royal Navy Dockyard, naval dockyard on the Firth of Forth at Rosyth, Fife, Scotland, owned by Babcock Marine, which formerly undertook refitting of Royal Navy surface vessels and submarines. Before its privatisation i ...
) being of a much greater size and importance at the time. During 1917 the First Sea Lord, Prince Louis of Battenburg and his son (Earl Mountbatten of Burma) were in residence when their names were officially changed to Mountbatten in order to reduce the Germanic image. This was very common in the UK at the time given the situation of total war being prosecuted against Germany. Prince Louis wrote in the visitors' book at Keavil ''"July 9th: arrived Prince Hyde. July19th: departed Lord Jekyll." '' From 1955 until 1975/6, the building was used as th
Martha Frew Childrens Home
for children placed in care by Dunfermline town council. Responsibility shifted between the newly formed Fife Regional Council and Dunfermline District Councils before being sold privately and renovated as a hotel in 1978/9. Crossford also boasts th
Pitfirrane Castle
a 16th-century 4 storey
Towerhouse A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, to command and defend strategic points ...
. In modern times this has become home to th
Dunfermline Golf Club
The building has been modified and extended in recent years, but still maintains some impressive stained glass and much of its original stature.


Nature

The land around Crossford is fertile and sought after for agriculture. There is a designated
Green Belt A green belt or greenbelt is a policy, and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wilderness, wild, or agricultural landscape, land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts ...
at the southeast of the village, between Waggon Road and
Dunfermline Dunfermline (; , ) is a city, parish, and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. Dunfermline was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of Scotland between the 11th and 15th centuries. The earliest ...
which attracts a variety of birdlife; pheasant, wild geese, curlew, heron, et cetera. On the southwest corner, near Keavil Steadings, is the Crossford sycamore, of about 300 years — a significant ''heritage tree'' which is recorded in the veteran tree register. The Crossford Burn comes from the Dean Wood, in the north and travels through the village to join the Lyne Burn near the railway at the south. Land to the south of the village is of high risk to river flooding.


Useful Information

* Telephone area code: 01383 (Dunfermline) * Post Code: KY12 area (Dunfermline) * SEPA floodmap: http://map.sepa.org.uk/floodmap/map.htm


References


External links


New (as of April 2016) Crossford Gala Website
{{authority control Villages in Fife