Inverkeithing

Inverkeithing Heritage Regeneration (2019 – 2024)

The Inverkeithing Heritage Regeneration scheme is now underway – a big thank you to our funders, the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic Environment Scotland! Fife Historic Buildings Trust is working with Fife Council and the local community to deliver the project, and here is a taster of what will be happening over the next five years:

Inverkeithing Town House will be restored to create a community hub that will be accessible to everyone. Local people will be supported to develop a community organisation that will manage the building in the long-term.

A grant scheme for buildings in the High Street area will help private owners to repair or improve their properties using traditional materials and skills. Owners can also get advice on how to look after their historic property and improve energy efficiency. Click on the Building Repair Grant Scheme tab to find out more.

A major uplift to the High Street and the Market Square will include new paving and the restoration of historic features. The Mercat Cross will be moved from its current location in Bank Street to the heart of the town.

An exciting activity programme will raise awareness of Inverkeithing’s rich history and promote good practice in looking after traditional buildings.

Information about the project will be made available here, in the local press, and at drop-in events and exhibitions. You can also join our mailing list to receive regular updates.

If you have any questions or would like to find out more, please email or call us on 01592 890060.

* Inverkeithing Heritage Regeneration is funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund (£1.2 million via the Townscape Heritage programme) and Historic Environment Scotland (£1 million via the Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme). In total, over £3.6 million will be invested in Inverkeithing’s heritage during the five-year programme, which runs from 2019 to 2024.*

Inverkeithing Town House

Inverkeithing Building Repair Grant Scheme

Inverkeithing has a superb architectural heritage, reflected in its many listed buildings and large Conservation Area. These historic buildings need regular care and attention and the Building Repair Grant Scheme is designed to help property owners and tenants with a full repairing lease to repair and conserve the external fabric and traditional appearance of their buildings.

Grants are available for properties within the Inverkeithing Heritage Regeneration grant scheme area – an area at the heart of the Conservation Area that we have agreed with our funders as a priority for grant support. Grants can support sensitive repairs to the external fabric of historic buildings using traditional materials and skills. The reinstatement of architectural features and details can also be funded.

Please email or call 01592 890060 for more information and to register your interest.

Inverkeithing Grants Leaflet

Grant Scheme Map

Small Grants Overview

Application Guidance – Small Grants

A stone and slate building survey of the historic centre of Inverkeithing was carried out in 2019-20. Stone matching through analysis and testing is an important step in identification of a suitable replacement stone for the repair of historic masonry. The use of incompatible replacement stone can lead to further decay of the surrounding masonry.

Several of the building stones in Inverkeithing were matched as part of this project. This ensured that the correct stone and slate types were identified for town centre building repair projects. The survey also provided a better understanding of the condition of the buildings and future conservation needs.

The survey report is as an incredibly useful tool for approaching repairs, conservation principles, practical advice and guidance, for Inverkeithing and other areas. A useful resource for contractors, specifiers and property owners. Follow the links below to read the full report.

Inverkeithing Stone and Slate Survey

A Building Stone Survey for Inverkeithing Conservation Area, Fife Final 2021

Inverkeithing Stone and Slate Survey – Appendices:

Appendix C – Stone analysis reports

Appendix D – Mortar analysis reports

Appendix G – Stone distribution map PA

Appendix H – Historic Quarry Locations

Appendix J – General guidance on Lime Work

Appendix K – Mortar Skew Fillet and Key (with specification)

Appendix L – Generic Specifications

Appendix M – Generic ashlar grouting powerpoint

Appendix N – Traditional burnt sand mastic pointing

Appendix O Glossary of Terms

High Street and Mercat Cross

Improvements to the High Street and Mercat Cross in the town centre will form a major part of the Inverkeithing Heritage Regeneration scheme. A first phase of works, in front of the Civic Centre, has been delayed by the Covid-19 lockdown until early 2021. The main phase of the construction works, focused on the High Street and Mercat Cross, is due to start in 2022

The improvement works are managed by Fife Council. The proposals have now been submitted for planning and you can view the documents on the planning portal here, or follow the links below to find out more

Bench design – December 20

Bin store details – December 20

Design statement – December 20

Gateway features – December 20

Planter design – December 20

Street furniture – December 20

Street layout – December 20

Surfacing materials – December 20

Mercat Cross planning consent

Welcome to Inverkeithing’s digital resources

We have three ways for you to explore Inverkeithing’s amazing heritage .

Make your own Inverkeithing Town House model

Make your very own model of the Town House.

There’s a video to watch, to help you make your model, and a template to download and print, below.

The template has full instructions on how to cut, fold and stick the model together. It can be coloured in too, and the kit comes with accessories: little people to animate your scenes, street furniture, market stalls, pipers at the Lammas fair, and even a Mercat Cross, to create Inverkeithing scenes. Please tweet or Instagram pictures of your completed models, using the hashtag #Inverkeithing or email them to .

Inverkeithing Town House Model

Here at Fife Historic Buildings Trust, we really love your creativity, thank you for letting us share your pictures, Anya, Dylan, Maya, Eilidh, James, Anais, Lily and Jane.

If you have made and coloured a model, we’d love to see it too. Please send us your pictures, to , and we’ll add them to the gallery.

Listen to our podcasts

Doors Open weekend is the official launch of the Inverkeithing Heritage Regeneration podcast, Series 1. Listen to episodes about Inverkeithing and pirates, the plague, find out more about the Town House. Subscribe, to find out new information currently being uncovered about Inverkeithing’s relationship to the Scottish Wars of Independence, and Inverkeithing’s direct connection to the Declaration of Arbroath. Each episode is about 20 minutes long, and the episode descriptions have links to sources of further information on the topic.

You can subscribe, and never miss an episode, on:

Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/2EmbfTC9wn7NRz6N87zIzH
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/inverkeithing-heritage-regeneration/id1531498334?uo=4
Anchor.fm https://anchor.fm/emma-griffiths
Breaker https://www.breaker.audio/inverkeithing-heritage-regeneration
Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/nklkly3t
RadioPublic: https://radiopublic.com/inverkeithing-heritage-regenerati-WdqdvL
other publishers coming soon

Take on a jigsaw challenge

Take on a jigsaw challenge, and get to know some of Inverkeithing’s heritage a different way. There’s an inbuilt timer – you can get competitive with your jigsaw completing skills!

Inverkeithing Town House, 45 pieces, moderate https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=15910e3c1f90

Town House panel, easier, 36 pieces

https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=0c88e8168d7e

Inverkeithing’s Town House has well documented alterations that date to the mid-1700s, but wall thicknesses in parts of the tower suggest the origins of the building may date from the 14^th or 15^th centuries. Inverkeithing was granted it Royal Burgh status in 1160, so some form of building in which serious town affairs were debated, taxes and tithes were collected and justice law and order were maintained, must have existed for centuries. There were even cells in the building, right up until the 19^th century – records exist of prison inspections, which report on the rather dubious jailor.

Providence House Inverkeithing, moderate, 49 pieces

https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=12b54a16264b

Can you beat someone else in the time it takes to complete the jigsaws?

The last jigsaw is of Providence House, with its carved lintel from 1688 – and the initials of patron who extended her house at that time: Isabella Bairdie.

Why not go for a responsible, socially distanced walk to the centre of Inverkeithing, have a good look at the Town House, and read the full inscription at Providence House – now Ferrier and MacKinnon Optometrists in the High Street – when you’ve completed the jigsaws?

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