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Rosyth Church
Church (Post Medieval)
Site Name Rosyth Church
Classification Church (Post Medieval)
Alternative Name(s) Rosyth Old Kirk; Rosyth Churchyard; Church Of Rosyth; Limekilns
Canmore ID 49515
Site Number NT08SE 5
NGR NT 08530 82844
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/49515
- Council Fife
- Parish Dunfermline
- Former Region Fife
- Former District Dunfermline
- Former County Fife
NT08SE 5.00 08530 82844
(NT 0852 8284) Rosyth Church (NR) (Remains of) AD 1400.
OS 6" map, (1948).
NT08SE 5.01 NT 08515 82845 Churchyard
NT08SE 5.02 NT 08508 82827 Morthouse
Non-Guardianship Sites Plan Collection, DC28500- DC28501, 1927.
(Undated) information in NMRS.
The remains of Rosyth Church stand within the churchyard, 1/2 mile SE of Limekilns. Only the E gable and part of the N wall remain. The former, with the adjoining 20 1/2' of the latter, has belonged to an early 13th century chancel while the rest of the N wall represents part of a nave dating from the late 16th or the 17th century. The original masonry is of fairly cubical ashlar, the later is coursed rubble.
RCAHMS 1933.
The Church of Rosyth is said to have been dedicated to St John. It belonged to the See of Dunkeld, and was in existence at least in the second half of the 12th century. The church ceased to be used as a place for worship between 1630 and 1648. The churchyard is still used for interments.
W Stephen 1921.
The remains of Rosyth Church are as described. The burial ground is still in use.
Visited by OS (D W R) 18 February 1974.
Site recorded by Maritime Fife during the Coastal Assessment Survey for Historic Scotland, Kincardine to Fife Ness 1996
NT 085 828. A stray human mandible was found on a grassy area just south of Rosyth Old Kirk burial ground by Mr Walmsley of Inverkeithing. The very weathered and friable bone belonged to a child aged 6-9 years.
Deposited with Dunfermline Museum.
Sponsor: Fife Council Planning Service Archaeology Unit.
P Yeoman 1998.
Field Visit (23 March 1928)
Rosyth Church.
This ruined church stands within the churchyard beside the shore, half a mile south-east of Limekilns. Only the east gable and part of the north wall remain. The former, with the adjoining 20 ½ feet of the latter, has belonged to an early 13th-century chancel, while the rest of the north wall represents part of a nave dating from the late 16th or the 17th century. The original masonry is of fairly cubical ashlar, the later is coursed rubble.
Internally the junction between the two has been covered by the chancel-screen wall. The church, when complete, has been rectangular on plan, measuring internally 15 feet in width and over 50 feet in length. The walls are 2 feet 3 inches in thickness. In the east gable are two lancet windows, checked for outer cases and provided with semi-circular rear-arches. Above the windows the gable is intaken. At the east end of the north wall is a locker, rebated for a frame, which is a later insertion. In the north wall of the nave is the entrance, a doorway with jambs and lintel chamfered, the latter being apparently an old tombstone re-used. Within the nave, east of the entrance, is a small locker, the lintel of which is the re-used head of a free-standing cross. The early masonry requires attention, particularly that of the north wall, which has a perceptible inclination and distortion.
RCAHMS 1933, visited 23 March 1928 .
