Inverkeithing Friary and Friary Gardens

Published Thursday 14th April 2022

We were pleased to be invited to speak to the Inverkeithing Community Council in March about Fife Council’s plans for Inverkeithing Friary. The aim is to convert the medieval building into a restaurant or café on the ground floor, and hostel accommodation for tourists on the upper levels. Stronger links would be made between the building and the gardens, which would be developed into a wonderful community space again. This ties in well with the original use of the Friary building as a hospitium (a religious place of hospitality and a lodging house for travellers and pilgrims), and its current location along the Fife Pilgrim Way and the Fife Coastal Path. Click on the link [link to pdf here] to find out more about the plans to transform the Friary and gardens into a real community asset again, and how you can have your say.

We were also delighted by the community interest in the Standing Building Survey of the Friary in March. Part of the Inverkeithing Heritage Regeneration Project, this was led by archaeologists from Northlight Heritage, who did a similar survey of Inverkeithing Town House in 2020. The detailed survey allowed local volunteers to discover many tantalising clues about the Friary’s long and complex history. A community archaeological dig in the Friary gardens is planned for June. Thank you to our funders – the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Historic Environment Scotland and Fife Council.

You can read the full summary of the project here: Inverkeithing Friary project – summary Mar 22