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The town of Culross, pronounced "Coo-ros", (Gaelic: Cuileann Ros) is a former royal burgh
Royal burgh

A royal burgh was a type of Scottish burgh which had been founded by, or subsequently granted, a royal charter. Although abolished in 1975, the term is still used in many of the former burghs....
 in Fife
Fife

Fife is a council area of Scotland, situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire....
, Scotland
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
.






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Culross, Town House
Culross Palace
The town of Culross, pronounced "Coo-ros", (Gaelic: Cuileann Ros) is a former royal burgh
Royal burgh

A royal burgh was a type of Scottish burgh which had been founded by, or subsequently granted, a royal charter. Although abolished in 1975, the term is still used in many of the former burghs....
 in Fife
Fife

Fife is a council area of Scotland, situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire....
, Scotland
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
. Originally a port city
Port

||-||-|-||-||-||-||-||-||-|}A port is a facility for receiving ships and transferring cargo. They are usually found at the edge of an ocean, sea, river, or lake....
 on the Firth of Forth
Firth of Forth

The Firth of Forth is the estuary or firth of Scotland River Forth, where it flows into the North Sea between Fife to the north, and West Lothian, the City of Edinburgh, and East Lothian to the south....
, the town is said to have been founded by Saint Serf
Saint Serf

Saint Serf was probably a Brythonic saint, certainly of Scotland. The only thing that can be safely asserted of Serf is that he proselytized in the area of western Fife....
 (fl. 6th century?), and to have been the birthplace of Saint Mungo
Saint Mungo

Saint Mungo is the commonly used name for Saint Kentigern . He was the late 6th century wikt:apostle of the Brythonic Kingdom of Strathclyde in modern Scotland, and patron saint and founder of the city of Glasgow....
.

A legend states that when the British princess (and future saint) Theneu or Enoch, daughter of the King of Lothian
Lothian

Lothian forms a traditional region of Scotland, lying between the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and the Lammermuir Hills.In Lothian there is Edinburgh City, West Lothian, Mid Lothian and East Lothian....
, became pregnant before marriage, her family threw her from a cliff. She survived the fall unharmed, and was soon met by an unmanned boat. She knew she had no home to go to, so she got into the boat; it sailed her across the Firth of Forth
Firth of Forth

The Firth of Forth is the estuary or firth of Scotland River Forth, where it flows into the North Sea between Fife to the north, and West Lothian, the City of Edinburgh, and East Lothian to the south....
 to land at Culross where she was cared for by Saint Serf; he became foster-father of her son, Saint Kentigern or Mungo (d. 612).

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the town was a centre of the coal mining
Coal mining

Coal mining is the extraction or removal of coal from the earth by mining. When coal is used for fuel in power generation it is referred to as steaming or thermal coal....
 industry. Sir George Bruce of Carnock, who built the splendid 'Palace' of Culross and whose elaborate family monument stands in the north transept of the Abbey church, established the first coal mine in the world to extend under the sea at Culross, with ingenious contrivances to drain the constant leakage from above. This mine was considered one of the marvels of the British Isles in the early 17th century, until it was destroyed in a storm. Culross' secondary industry was salt panning. There was a considerable export trade by sea in the produce of these industries. It was also known for its monopoly on the manufacture of 'girdles', ie. flat iron plates for baking over an open fire. The town's role as a port declined from the 18th century, and by Victorian times it had become something of a 'ghost town'. The harbour was filled in and the sea cut off by the coastal railway line in the second half of the 19th century (though the site of the harbour walls can to a large extent still be traced).

During the 20th century, it became recognised that Culross contained many unique historical buildings and the National Trust for Scotland
National Trust for Scotland

The National Trust for Scotland describes itself as the conservation charity that protects and promotes Scotland's natural and cultural heritage for present and future generations to enjoy....
 has been working on their preservation and restoration since the 1930s.

Notable buildings in the burgh include Culross Town House, formerly used as a courthouse
Courthouse

File:HistoricalMarkerUSGeorgiaMarchToTheSeaStatesboroRight.jpgA courthouse is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities....
 and prison
Prison

A prison, penitentiary, or correctional facility is a place in which individuals are physically confined or internment and usually deprived of a range of personal Freedom ....
, the 16th century Culross Palace
Culross Palace

Culross Palace is a late 16th - early 17th century merchant's house in Culross, Fife, Scotland.The palace, or "Great Lodging", was constructed between 1597 and 1611 by Sir George Bruce of Carnock, the Laird of Carnock....
, 17th century Study, and the remains of the Cistercian house of Culross Abbey
Culross Abbey

Culross Abbey is a Cistercians abbey in Culross, Scotland, head by the Abbot of Culross.The abbey was founded in 1217 by Maol Choluim I, Earl of Fife, Mormaer of Fife or Earl of Fife, and was first colonised by monks from Kinloss Abbey....
, founded 1217. The tower, transepts and choir of the Abbey Church remain in use as the parish church, while the ruined claustral buildings are cared for by Historic Scotland
Historic Scotland

Historic Scotland is an executive agency of the Scottish Government, responsible for historic monuments in Scotland.Its website states:It has direct responsibility for maintaining and running over 360 monuments in its care, about a quarter of which are manned and charge admission entry....
 (no entrance charge).

Culross is twinned with Veere
Veere

Veere is a municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands, on Walcheren in the province of Zeeland....
 in the Netherlands, which was formerly the port through which its export goods entered the Low Countries
Low Countries

The Low Countries, the historical region of de Nederlanden, are the country on low-lying land around the river delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse River rivers....
.

It is part of the Dunfermline and West Fife
Dunfermline and West Fife (UK Parliament constituency)

Dunfermline and West Fife is a constituency represented in the British House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created for the United Kingdom general election, 2005 from all of the old Dunfermline West and parts of the old Dunfermline East constituencies....
 Westminster constituency.

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