Kinghorn Heritage Project
Kinghorn Heritage Project
The Kinghorn Heritage Project is now complete. It was a three year project that was carried out by Kinghorn Historical Society between April 2017 and November 2020 with the help of £42,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The project was in several parts:
- three separate exhibitions
- an Oral history project carried out in conjunction with Kinghorn Primary School with the publication of the interviews in the book 'Kinghorn Memories'.
- the publication of the Kinghorn Heritage App which is free to download from the App Store or Google Play.
- the installation of nine interpretation boards in various locations throughout Kinghorn.
- two leaflets to accompany the App and interpretation boards to complete the Heritage Trail. Leaflets are available from various locations around Kinghorn.
See below for more details.
Kinghorn Interpretation Panels
The committee of Kinghorn Historical Society is delighted that at last the long promised Lottery Funded interpretation panels are in place around Kinghorn. It has taken four years of planning, negotiations with Fife Council and then delays due to factory closures because of Covid 19. We began to think they weren’t meant to happen!
There are nine panels altogether situated in the following places:
- Doo Dells lane
- Quarrel Brae (behind the old cinema)
- Outside the gate to the Parish Church (Church information board)
- The Nethergate Play Park
- Outside the Julian Hall
- In front of the Health Centre at the Porte
- The slope up to the Golf Course
- Pettycur (below the cliff)
- Pettycur Car Park (Inchkeith information board).
Seven of the panels each has a map of the trail situated near to it, together with a small amount of history about its immediate location and a QR code link to our website. The remaining two panels have information only, one outside Kinghorn Parish Church giving the history of the church, and one beside the sea wall in Pettycur Car Park giving information about Inchkeith.
These panels cannot begin to convey the rich and varied history of Kinghorn in the small space available, but are meant to be used in conjunction with the free trail leaflets that are available from various venues around Kinghorn, or the smart phone app that is free to download from either the Apple Store or Google play. Together they form three small heritage trails.
(November 2020)
Kinghorn Memories 1900 - 1999
Our new publication 'Kinghorn Memories 1900 - 1999' was released in September.
This publication is the transcribed and edited extracts of the oral history interviews between some of the long term residents of Kinghorn and the pupils at Kinghorn Primary School. The book details stories, anecdotes and memories about Kinghorn and is primarily the social history of Kinghorn in the 20th century.
(November 2020)
If you would like a copy of the book please contact us through the contact page on this website.
Launch of the Kinghorn Heritage App and opening of latest exhibition
On Friday 6th September 2019 the new Kinghorn Heritage smart phone app will be launched. The app will be available for download free from the Apple Store for iphone and Google Play for Android phones. The app contains photos, text, 360 deg images with archival replacement and extracts from the oral history project.
The latest exhibition from Kinghorn Historical Society, 'Kinghorn Old and New', will also be opened on September 7th at Kinghorn Station Gallery. The exhibition covers the history of some of the public buildings in Kinghorn: The Town Hall; the churches; the schools; some of the military buildings and the history of the pubs, taverns and hotels.
The Royal Burgh of Kinghorn Historical Society have been promoting Kinghorn History for over 30 years and are keen to get the community involved in recording the more recent history. The project started with an exhibition on ‘The Changing Face of Kinghorn High Street’ in May 2017 and included images of the High Street from the past 100 years. The exhibition was very successful and well attended by many of the local community.
An oral history project was started in the autumn of 2017. A variety of Kinghorn residents were interviewed by P7 pupils from Kinghorn Primary School. These interviews have now largely been transcribed ready for publication.
In September 2018 a second exhibition was held in Kinghorn Station Gallery on the theme of the Industrial Heritage of Kinghorn. The industries featured were: shipbuilding; cleekmaking; glue making; glass bottlemaking; tanneries; flax spinning; grain mills; wood flour mills and a net factory. The exhibition was well attended with visitors coming from Edinburgh, North Fife and the west of Scotland. In the feedback we received many positive comments about the display.
In the New Year we shall be starting a second round of the Oral History project and planning another exhibition for September 2019. We are also starting to discuss a heritage phone app with app developers and will be moving the Heritage Trail forward. If anyone has strong feelings about what should be included in the Heritage Trail please get in touch with your ideas through the contact page.
Kinghorn Heritage Project
The Royal Burgh of Kinghorn Historical Society has received £42,100 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for an exciting Heritage Project in Kinghorn.
Led by volunteers from the local community, the three-year project focuses on recording the social, industrial and military history of Kinghorn over the past 150 years, to secure Kinghorn’s heritage for future generations and to help the local community and visitors interpret and appreciate the varied history of Kinghorn.
The project will include an Oral History Project, exhibitions and the setting up of a Heritage Trail around Kinghorn. Local schoolchildren and volunteers will have the opportunity to take part in a community project, learn about the history of their town and acquire useful skills in researching and recording local history.
