Limekilns, a village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 in Fife

Fife

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

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, lies on the shore of the Firth of Forth

Firth of Forth

The Firth of Forth is the estuary or firth of Scotland's 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...

.

Unlike the neighbouring village of Charlestown

Charlestown, Fife

Charlestown, Fife is a town in Scotland on the north shore of the Firth of Forth, adjoining Limekilns and Rosyth. Like Rosyth, Charlestown was home to a sizable shipbreaking industry in the mid twentieth centuryCharlestown is home to the The Scottish Lime Centre Trust which was established in 1994...

, Limekilns is an extremely old settlement dating back to the 14th century. The oldest building in the village is without doubt The King's Cellar, a large and somewhat mysterious property whose existence can be traced back to 1362. It has served many different purposes throughout its long life, notably as a store house, school

School

A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...

, library

Library

In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...

 and chapel

Chapel

A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...

. It is currently employed as a Freemasons Lodge and is generally not open to the public.

The exact origins of the name Limekilns are unknown. Certainly lime was burned there in relatively small amounts in the early life of the village, though there was a much larger operation going on in the neighbouring village of Charlestown. The ruins of the massive kiln

Kiln

A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, or oven, in which a controlled temperature regime is produced. Uses include the hardening, burning or drying of materials...

s still exist today and are protected by the National Trust for Scotland

National Trust for Scotland

The National Trust for Scotland for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, commonly known as 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...

.

In its early days Limekilns was mainly a fishing

Fishing

Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....

 village, with the large natural harbour providing docking facilities for small to medium transport and cargo ships. Soap

Soap

In chemistry, soap is a salt of a fatty acid.IUPAC. "" Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. . Compiled by A. D. McNaught and A. Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford . XML on-line corrected version: created by M. Nic, J. Jirat, B. Kosata; updates compiled by A. Jenkins. ISBN...

 was also produced from a soapworks located near Caupernaum Pier.

However, the years of industrial decline meant that most of these industries were lost and Limekilns became just another sleepy coastal village. However, new housing estates were added during the property boom of the 1970s and 1980s, considerably boosting the size and population of the village. Today, its picturesque location and generally high quality housing make Limekilns an attractive residential area.

Limekilns is presided over by the Earl of Elgin

Earl of Elgin

The title Earl of Elgin was created on June 21, 1633 in the Peerage of Scotland for Thomas Bruce, 3rd Lord Kinloss. He was later created Baron Bruce of Whorlton in the Peerage of England on July 30, 1641. His son, Robert, succeeded him, and was also created Earl of Ailesbury in the Peerage of...

, who lives in Broomhall House overlooking the village.

Birthplace of George Thomson.