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Inverkeithing is a town and 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...
, located 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....
. According to population estimates (2006), the town has a population of 5,265. The port town was given burgh status by King David I of Scotland
David I of Scotland

David I or Dabhidh Mac Maol Chaluim was a 12th-century ruler who was Prince of the Cumbrians and later List of monarchs of Scotland . The youngest son of Maol Chaluim Mac Donnchaidh and Saint Margaret of Scotland, David spent most of his childhood in Scotland, but was exiled to England temporarily in 1093....
 (1124-53) in the 12th century and is situated about 9 miles (15 km) north from Edinburgh Airport
Edinburgh Airport

Edinburgh Airport is located in Edinburgh, Scotland, and was the busiest airport in Scotland in 2007, handling 9,047,558 passengers. It was also the seventh Busiest airports in the United Kingdom by total passenger traffic in the United Kingdom by passengers and the fifth busiest by air transport movements....
 and about 4 miles from the centre of Dunfermline
Dunfermline

Dunfermline is a town in Fife which had official City_status_in_the_United_Kingdom#Pretenders until 1970. It is located on high ground five miles from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth on the route of major road and rail crossings across the firth to Edinburgh and the south....
. Modern Inverkeithing is almost continuous with Rosyth
Rosyth

Rosyth is a town with a population of approx 15,000 located on the Firth of Forth on Scotland's east coast, three miles south of the centre of Dunfermline....
 and Dalgety Bay
Dalgety Bay

Dalgety Bay, a coastal town in Fife, Scotland, stands on the north shore of the Firth of Forth. According to the 2006 estimate, the town is home to 9,844, making this the eighth-largest place in Fife....
. Inverkeithing is an extremely well developing town and has many new housing sites including one next to the Town's Railway station.

Origin of Name
The name is of Scottish Gaelic origin,Inbhir Ceitein.






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Inverkeithing is a town and 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...
, located 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....
. According to population estimates (2006), the town has a population of 5,265. The port town was given burgh status by King David I of Scotland
David I of Scotland

David I or Dabhidh Mac Maol Chaluim was a 12th-century ruler who was Prince of the Cumbrians and later List of monarchs of Scotland . The youngest son of Maol Chaluim Mac Donnchaidh and Saint Margaret of Scotland, David spent most of his childhood in Scotland, but was exiled to England temporarily in 1093....
 (1124-53) in the 12th century and is situated about 9 miles (15 km) north from Edinburgh Airport
Edinburgh Airport

Edinburgh Airport is located in Edinburgh, Scotland, and was the busiest airport in Scotland in 2007, handling 9,047,558 passengers. It was also the seventh Busiest airports in the United Kingdom by total passenger traffic in the United Kingdom by passengers and the fifth busiest by air transport movements....
 and about 4 miles from the centre of Dunfermline
Dunfermline

Dunfermline is a town in Fife which had official City_status_in_the_United_Kingdom#Pretenders until 1970. It is located on high ground five miles from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth on the route of major road and rail crossings across the firth to Edinburgh and the south....
. Modern Inverkeithing is almost continuous with Rosyth
Rosyth

Rosyth is a town with a population of approx 15,000 located on the Firth of Forth on Scotland's east coast, three miles south of the centre of Dunfermline....
 and Dalgety Bay
Dalgety Bay

Dalgety Bay, a coastal town in Fife, Scotland, stands on the north shore of the Firth of Forth. According to the 2006 estimate, the town is home to 9,844, making this the eighth-largest place in Fife....
. Inverkeithing is an extremely well developing town and has many new housing sites including one next to the Town's Railway station.

Origin of Name


The name is of Scottish Gaelic origin,Inbhir Ceitein. Inbhear mean 'confluence, inflow' thus 'mouth of the Keithing/Ceitein' or Inverkeithing. The Keithing is the name of a small river/burn that runs through the southern part of the town.

History


The parish church of St. Peter stands in its large churchyard on the east side of Church Street. The main part of the church is a large plain neo-Gothic 'preaching box' of 1826-27, but the western tower is 14th century. The traceried belfry openings are unusual. Built of soft sandstone, the tower is very weathered, and has been partially refaced. It is crowned by a lead spire with over-emphatic gabled dormers housing clock-faces (1835 and 1883). The church's roomy interior (now deprived of its galleries) is graced by a little-known treasure, one of the finest medieval furnishings to survive in any Scottish parish church. This is the large, extremely well-preserved, grey sandstone font of c 1398, which was rediscovered buried under the church, having been concealed at the Reformation
Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a Christian reform movement in Europe. It is thought to have begun in 1517 with Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses and may be considered to have ended with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648....
. Its octagonal bowl is decorated with angels holding heraldic shields. These include the royal arms of the King of Scots, and of Queen Anabella Drummond
Anabella Drummond

Anabella Drummond was a queen consort of Robert III of Scotland.She was the daughter of Sir John Drummond of Stobhall and Mary Montifex. She married John Stewart in 1367, and was coronation with her husband at Scone Palace when he came to the throne in 1390....
 (d. 1401), the consort of Robert III
Robert III of Scotland

Robert III , King of Scots ...
 (1390-1406). The high quality of the carving is explained by it being a royal gift to the parish church, Inverkeithing being a favourite residence of Queen Anabella.

The town was also the last place that Alexander III
Alexander III of Scotland

Alexander III , King of Scots, was born at Roxburgh, the only son of Alexander II of Scotland by his second wife Marie de Coucy. Alexander's father died on 6 July 1249 and he became king at the age of eight, inaugurated at Scone, Perth and Kinross on 13 July 1249....
 (1241-86) was seen before he fell off his horse at Kinghorn
Kinghorn

Kinghorn is a burgh in Fife, Scotland. A seaside resort with two beaches, Kinghorn Beach and Pettycur Bay, plus a fishing port, it stands on the north shore of the Firth of Forth opposite Edinburgh....
. Some texts have said that he fell off a cliff. Although there is no cliff at the site where his body was found there is a very steep rocky embankment - which would have been fatal in the dark.

The town museum (open in summer) is housed in a late medieval building which was part of the claustral ranges of the town's Franciscan friary. This is one of the few remnants of a house of the Greyfriars
Greyfriars

Greyfriars may refer to:* the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor* Greyfriars Kirk, Edinburgh, a church* Greyfriars Bobby, a renowned dog in Edinburgh...
 to have survived in Scotland
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
. In the garden behind the museum, some stone vaults survive which were probably storage cellars associated with the friary.

The Battle of Inverkeithing
Battle of Inverkeithing

The Battle of Inverkeithing was a battle in the Third English Civil War. It was fought between an English Parliamentarian army under John Lambert and a Scottish force acting on behalf of Charles II of England, led by Sir John Brown of Fordell....
 (20 July 1651) was fought in the area, close to Pitreavie Castle
Pitreavie Castle

Pitreavie Castle is a country house, located between Rosyth and Dunfermline in Fife, Scotland. It was built in the early 17th century, and was extensively remodelled in 1885....
, during Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell was an English people Military history of the United Kingdom and Politics of England leader best known for his involvement in making England into a republican Commonwealth and for his later role as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
's invasion of the Kingdom of Scotland
Kingdom of Scotland

The Kingdom of Scotland was a state in North-West Europe which existed from 843 until 1707. It occupied the northern third of the island of Great Britain and shared a Anglo-Scottish border to the south with the Kingdom of England, with which it was united to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, under the terms of the Acts of Union 1707, in 170...
 following the Third English Civil War
English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Roundhead and Cavalier. The First English Civil War and Second English Civil War civil wars pitted the supporters of Charles I of England against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the Third English Civil War saw fighting between supporters...
. This is considered of great importance to Clan MacLean
Clan MacLean

Clan Maclean is a highland Scottish clan....
, and the 20th century poet Sorley MacLean
Sorley MacLean

Sorley MacLean was one of the most significant Scottish poets of the 20th century....
 mentions Inverkeithing in one of his poems. The Russian admiral Samuel Greig
Samuel Greig

Samuel Greig, or Samuil Karlovich Greig , as he was known in Russia - Scotland-born Russian admiral who distinguished himself in the Battle of Chesma and the Battle of Hogland ....
 was a native.

Inverkeithing is famous for its shipbreaking (Thos.W.Ward) yard. The 2nd RMS Mauretania
RMS Mauretania (1938)

RMS Mauretania was launched on 28 July 1938 at the Cammell Laird yard in Birkenhead, England and was completed in May 1939. A successor to RMS Mauretania , the second Mauretania was the first ship built for the newly formed Cunard Line company following the merger in April 1934 of the Cunard Line and White Star Line....
 and RMS Olympic
RMS Olympic

Royal Mail Ship Olympic was the lead ship of the Olympic class ocean liner ocean liners built for the White Star Line, which also included RMS Titanic and HMHS Britannic....
 were dismantled here (the 1st Mauretania
RMS Mauretania (1906)

Royal Mail Ship Mauretania , sister ship of the , was a Lusitania-class ocean liner built by Swan Hunter at Wallsend, Tyne and Wear for the British Cunard Line, and launched on 20 September 1906....
 was broken up a few miles away at Rosyth according to the article linked here).

List of Ships broken up at Inverkeithing

  • HMS Mars (1848)
    HMS Mars (1848)

    HMS Mars was a two-deck 80-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 1 July 1848 at Chatham Dockyard.She served as a supply carrier in the Crimean War, and was fitted with propeller#Marine in 1855....
  • HMS Dreadnought (1906)
    HMS Dreadnought (1906)

    The sixth HMS Dreadnought of the Royal Navy was a battleship that revolutionised naval power when she entered service in 1906. Dreadnought represented such a marked advance in naval technology that her name came to be associated with an entire generation of battleships, the "dreadnoughts", as well as the class of ships named af...
  • HMS Nelson (1925)
    HMS Nelson (1925)

    HMS Nelson was a Nelson class battleship battleship of the Royal Navy built between the two World Wars. She was named in honour of Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson the victor at the Battle of Trafalgar....
  • HMS Rodney (29)
  • HMS Glory (R62)
    HMS Glory (R62)

    HMS Glory was a Colossus class aircraft carrier aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy laid down on 8 November 1942 by Alexander Stephens and Sons at Govan....
  • The 2nd RMS Mauretania
    RMS Mauretania (1938)

    RMS Mauretania was launched on 28 July 1938 at the Cammell Laird yard in Birkenhead, England and was completed in May 1939. A successor to RMS Mauretania , the second Mauretania was the first ship built for the newly formed Cunard Line company following the merger in April 1934 of the Cunard Line and White Star Line....
  • RMS Olympic (1937)
    RMS Olympic

    Royal Mail Ship Olympic was the lead ship of the Olympic class ocean liner ocean liners built for the White Star Line, which also included RMS Titanic and HMHS Britannic....
  • RMS Cedric
    RMS Cedric

    RMS Cedric was laid down in 1902 at the shipyard of Harland & Wolff, Belfast. RMS Cedric was the second of White Star's series known as the "Big Four ", the other three being , and ....
  • RMS Empress of Australia
  • RMS Maloja
    RMS Maloja

    The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company placed the order for Royal Mail Ship Maloja with Harland and Wolff Ltd on 29 November 1918. She was given the yard No....
     1954
  • MT Haakon Havan (Re-named Norske Esso) 1960
  • SS Ambrose 1946
  • SS Hilary
    HMS Hilary (1931)

    HMS Hilary, was a passenger liner launched in 1931, SS Hilary, which was requisitioned by the Royal Navy during Second World War and used to as an ocean boarding vessel in the North Atlantic....
     1959


Transport

Inverkeithing is bypassed by the M90 motorway
M90 motorway

The M90 is a motorway in Scotland. It runs from Inverkeithing, at the north end of the Forth Road Bridge, to Perth, Scotland, passing Dunfermline, Cowdenbeath and Kinross on the way....
. The M90 links Fife to 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....
 and Edinburgh via the Forth Road Bridge
Forth Road Bridge

The Forth Road Bridge is a suspension bridge in Central Belt Scotland. The bridge, built in 1964, spans the Firth of Forth, connecting the capital city Edinburgh at South Queensferry to Fife at North Queensferry....
. The town is served by Inverkeithing railway station
Inverkeithing railway station

Inverkeithing railway station serves the town of Inverkeithing in Fife, Scotland. The station is managed by First ScotRail and is on the Fife Circle Line 21 km north west of Edinburgh Waverley railway station....
. The town is a hub for the rail network to and from Fife - passengers traveling to Edinburgh are carried over the Forth Rail Bridge.

External links



See also

  • List of places in Fife
    List of places in Fife

    This List of places in Fife is a list of links for any town, village, hamlet , castle, golf course, historic house, hillfort, lighthouse, nature reserve, reservoir, river, and other place of interest in Fife, Scotland....