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Burntisland, Church Street, St Serf's Parish Church And Churchyard
Church (13th Century), Churchyard (Medieval), Gravestone (17th Century)
Site Name Burntisland, Church Street, St Serf's Parish Church And Churchyard
Classification Church (13th Century), Churchyard (Medieval), Gravestone (17th Century)
Alternative Name(s) Kirkton Old Parish Church; Old Parish Church Of Parva Kinghorn; St Adamnan's Church
Canmore ID 52826
Site Number NT28NW 5
NGR NT 23037 86375
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/52826
- Council Fife
- Parish Burntisland
- Former Region Fife
- Former District Kirkcaldy
- Former County Fife
NT28NW 5 23037 86375
(NT 2303 8637) Church (NR) (remains of)
OS 6" map, (1967)
The ruined church of Parva Kinghorn (Little Kinghorn) is said to have been dedicated to St Serf (RCAHMS 1933, D MacGibbon and T Ross 1896-7) or St Adamnan (D MacGibbon and T Ross 1896-7). It dates from about the first quarter of the 13th century.
The church consists of a chancel, nave, and a south aisle, which is a later addition, and to which is attached a 13th century vaulted cell at the SE angle.
All features seem to indicate that the church was erected in the 13th century, although it has been surmised that it was rebuilt in the 15th century. The simplicity of the chancel arch and the absence of an E window are against that supposition.
RCAHMS 1933; D MacGibbon and T Ross 1896-7.
The remains of this church are as described. It stands within a disused graveyard and is dilapidated and overgrown.
Visited by OS (A C) 27 February 1959.
No change to previous field report.
Visited by OS (S F S) 17 December 1975.
Field Visit (22 May 1928)
Old Parish Church, Kirkton.
The ruined church of Parva Kingorn (‘Little Kinghorn’) said to have been dedicated to St. Serf, stands at the Kirkton, a quarter of a mile north of Burntisland. It dates from about the first quarter of the 13th century and was consecrated on 19th May 1243 by David de Bernham, Bishop of St. Andrews. The masonry is ashlar, fairly cubical in places, built with pinnings of shell and slate. The plan shows a rectangular nave and chancel, the western division having a south aisle, which is a later addition and to which is attached on the south-east a vaulted cell dating from the 13th century. The north and south walls of the nave are very incomplete, but the west gable is fairly entire and contains a single lancet -window. The chancel arch, which was contracted when the chancel became a burial-place, is simple, being built in a single order. The impost is chamfered on the lower member and the bases of the jambs are splayed. The north wall of the chancel is a later addition; the south wall, which stands complete to the wall-head contains two lancet-windows, both of which have been closed, and a doorway with jambs and head that are not original. The east gable, of which a good deal still remains, may have been rebuilt above the four lowest courses, in which case the old stones have been re-used. No openings can be traced in it, the outer surface being densely covered with ivy. But it has been tabled, and a single skew-put survives at the north-east angle to show the level of the "dripping eaves." Internally, the nave measures 35 ¾ by 14 ¾ feet and the chancel 24 ¼ by 13 feet.
The south aisle had a width of 7 ¼ feet. Its remains are inconsiderable. The cell at the south-east angle of the aisle is a single chamber, measuring 11 by 6 feet internally, celled with a pointed barrel-vault. It is built of ashlar. The jambs and lintel of the entrance, which faces west are of 17th-century date, but the original rybats can be traced on the inside. A recess in the east gable seems to represent the embrasure of a small window, and m the south wall is another window, in which a fireplace has been inserted. The remains are in urgent need of conservation.
TOMBSTONE. Against the outside wall, on the south of the chancel, stands a headstone dated 1677 and bearing the initials H.A. with the arms of the Andersons of Dowhill: A saltire (? engrailed) between a crescent in chief and three mullets in the flanks and base. The stone is much decayed, and the inscription it once bore is illegible. Cf. Eccles. Arch., ii, p. 269.
RCAHMS 1933, visited 22 May 1928.
Standing Building Recording (3 February 2016 - 8 April 2016)
NT 23041 86381 In 2015 Fife Council was awarded a HLF grant to record, conserve and consolidate the ruined church in Burntisland. A detailed measured survey was undertaken, 3 February – 8 April 2016, as part of the initial phase of works. The church is thought to have been built in the 13th century, originally forming part of the town of Wester Kinghorn, later to become Kirkton, and was dedicated to St Serf. It was abandoned in the late 16th/early 17th century in favour of a newer larger church to the S.
The Kirk now exists as an enclosed former chancel to the E with the remains of one single gable wall of the nave to the W. The adjoining walls between the two have only partially survived and exist in part as footings. Two small walls to the S of the chancel form a S aisle to the kirk, which now only survives in part and only a few courses above ground level. To the S of this is a small building known as The Cell, which was possibly an original vestry. Roofless, this once had a vaulted roof (springing from the N and S walls) with only fragmentary remains of its features such as the opening in the S and E elevations and blocked doorway to the W. The
chancel arch is modest by contemporary standards and, as with many other kirks that were abandoned relatively early, was blocked to create a smaller doorway when the ruins were converted for used as a burial aisle.
Archive: NRHE (intended)
Funder: Fife Council
Diana Sproat – AOC Archaeology Group
(Source: DES, Volume 17)
OASIS ID: aocarcha1-242103
