Crail, Parish Church. Part view from south of school and Church.

Description Crail, Parish Church. Part view from south of school and Church.

Date c. 1890

Collection Papers of Erskine Beveridge, antiquarian, Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland

Catalogue Number SC 739196

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of F 1942

Scope and Content Parish (or East) School, Crail, Fife (now demolished) The Parish School, Crail, which stood on the north side of Marketgate at the entrance to the Parish Church, was demolished in 1893. This photograph of the school, taken c.1890 by Scottish photographer, Erskine Beveridge, is possibly the only photographic record of the building which exists. This stone-built, single-storeyed building, with a slated roof and central chimney, has tall round-headed windows with Gothic-style glazing in its south front. The date of construction is uncertain, but it may have been built c.1815 when the nave of the church was reconstructed by Robert Balfour, and similar Gothic-style windows inserted in the new south aisle wall. The parish or east school was a grammar school controlled by the church heritors, and was one of two schools in Crail, the other being the burgh or west school in the Nethergate, run by the Town Council. They remained quite separate until the passing of the Education Act in 1872 when both were transferred to the School Board. Pupils were arranged in mixed classes according to age and ability, and subjects included history, geography, algebra, French, Latin, English (including prose and poetry) and music, with knitting and sewing provided for the girls. Children were also taught first aid and hygiene, and taken on local nature rambles. In 1888 the school was condemned for lack of playground space and sanitary arrangements, and was demolished in 1893. A new primary school, built in St Andrews Road, opened in 1890. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

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File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap