Aithernie House (now the Old Manor Hotel) was built in 1864 to the design of Glasgow architect Mr Campbell Douglas. It was one of the first private homes built on the land east of Sunnybraes Farm.  The house was built for the Misses Rigg, who were descendants of William Rigg, a merchant burgess of Edinburgh who had acquired the Aithernie Estate early in the 17th century.  Margaret and Mary Rigg moved into Aithernie House with their niece Mary Haymes from Tarvit, Cupar, where their father James Home Rigg had an estate.  A Mr Thomson, the gardener at Tarvit, planned and laid out the spacious grounds of Aithernie. Upon completion of the house, the lady owners hosted a dinner in the drawing room and library for 40 of the contractors involved in the building work. The three ladies became active members of the community, hosting an annual Christmas Treat in the Lundin Schoolroom as well as holding events within their home.  The Fife Herald of 14 August 1873 describes a 'juvenile excursion' to Aithernie from New Gilston....

"The children were conducted thither in carts...and on arrival were heartily welcomed by the Aithernie ladies.... The children were handsomely treated with a liberal supply of tarts, cookies, &tc which they seemed to enjoy heartily.  Many and varied also were the amusements provided for them, with suitable rewards for the winners of the various games.  After enjoying themselves thus for several hours, they marched in order through the garden, admiring very much as they went the beautiful flower pots, so artistically arranged and neatly kept, and looking so beautiful at this season of the year, and arranged themselves in front of the house where they sang some nice hymns....and before leaving gave three lusty cheers for Miss Haymes and her kindness and liberality in providing them with such a rare treat as they had enjoyed that day."

The Aithernie estate, was immediately to the east of the Durie estate and to the west of the estate of Lundin.  Aithernie Castle was once home to William Rigg.  Now ruined (see photo) the castle was about 2 miles west of Lundin Links.  After William Rigg's death, Aithernie Castle became the property of James Watson (around 1670).  It subsequently passed to his son, Alexander Watson, who married Margaret Lindsay (daughter of David Lindsay of Edzell), known as 'the proud lady of Edzell'.  

In the book 'The East Neuk of Fife: It's History and Antiquities', it is said that Margaret "just lived to see the ruin of Aithernie, which her extravagance and folly had brought on, for the laird was a good-natured man, and would deny her nothing.  They both died leaving their family in penury."

More on the history of Aithernie House in the next post.

Around the start of the 1950s, just over a decade after the demolition of the old oil and cake mill, a caravan park was created on the terraced site alongside the Keil burn - framed by an arch of the viaduct in this 1970s postcard view.  The blue and white sign under the arch to the right bears the name 'Robert Band', who ran the site for a short time before it was developed for housing.  

The caravan site had previously been run by Jack and Jean Philp, from the early 1950s and later by Jean Philp alone. Robert Band was Jean's son-in-law and only became involved much later when he ran his joinery business from Jean's garage. Robert ran the site briefly after Jean's death.

In the book 'Largo - An Illustrated History' by Eric Eunson and John Band, it is noted that the old millstones, which had lain on the site of the mill, were buried during the construction of the caravan park.  The same stones (2.37m diameter, 0.54m wide) were unearthed again during the building of Seatoun Place in 1982-3. They are now preserved as mementoes of the mill - gracing the entrance to the housing development. The 1980s postcard image below shows the Seatoun Place houses in their picturesque spot by the bridge and the water.

For many decades up until the mid-nineteenth century, there was a flax spinning mill on this site on the Keil burn close to Largo Harbour.  In the 1860s, the buildings were modified to become an 'oil and cake mill' by David Russell (who resided at Silverburn where he already had a flax works). Box presses were used to extract oil from linseed, cottonseed, rapeseed, etc. The leftover material was then turned into 'cakes' (eg linseed cake and cotton cake) which could be used as animal feed. Linseed oil was of course a key component of linoleum flooring which was developed during the 1850s and 1860s.  By 1877, nearby Kirkcaldy was the world's largest producer of linoleum.

The above 'Forwarding Note' is for a consignment of 'cotton cake' sent in 1870 by David Russell from Largo to Halbeath via the Leven and East of Fife Railway. The small newspaper advert from 1867 describes "fresh-made cotton cakes of a very superior quality" being available at Largo Oil Mills for delivery.

David Russell died in 1906 (sometime after he had handed over the running of the mill).  The mill had closed completely by the start of the Great War in 1914.  The mill buildings stood until 1939.  The next post will cover how the site has been used since the demolition of the mill.

Homelands Trust Fife is in the process of creating a new facility for those affected by disabilities, on the site of the former 1860s villa 'Homelands' (the history of which was covered in yesterday's post.)  Construction is now well under way and on track for completion this summer. The development consists of 4 holiday cottages as well as drop-in facility, to be named the Paxton Centre (after Miss Isabel Paxton who left the legacy which made the project possible).

Set in large wooded grounds very close to the sea, the site is a beautiful and tranquil place.  I had the privilege to walk through the grounds on a warm summer's evening last year just before work commenced and was able to take these photographs.  I got a real sense of history walking through the grounds, knowing that they had 150 years of back story, but at the same time a sense of anticipation of a bright new future lying ahead.  I hope that many people benefit from visiting here for a long time to come.

Homelands was a large villa build during the 1860s not long after the arrival of the railway in 1857.  It was one of a few large villas built in a short phase of development which preceded the more extensive turn of the century expansion of the village. Homelands occupied a large plot running between Leven Road and Links Road, adjacent to the Bowling Green.  The top photograph shows the main house in the centre beyond a busy bowling green, and the gardener's cottage to the right of it (behind the flag and bowling green pavilion).  To the left, wooded gardens ran down towards the golf course.

Homelands had a number of different owners and tenants up until 1908 when Robert Paxton bought the property. Ownership of Homelands would remain in the Paxton family until the death of Robert Paxton's daughter Isabel in 1993 at the age of 88.  The house and grounds were left to the Fife branch of the MS Society and although the main house itself was demolished recently, work is in progress on an exciting new chapter in the history of Homelands (more on this in the next post). 

The main photograph shows the Drummochy Road on the right running uphill towards Crescent Road and to its left is the narrower Drum Park.  For a long time (probably a couple of centuries) this was referred to locally as the 'Pans Road' as it connected the old panhouse to the main road (along which some of the salters cottages would have been).

The 'Largo Village Book' compiled in 1932 by the Largo WRI, mentions salt production in a couple of places.  Firstly, it notes that the Old Statistical Account of Scotland from 1792 records that salt from Largo was shipped for Dundee and Perth.  Secondly, the book notes that in 1840 there were records stating that "in old times a trade was carried on with Campvere and Rotterdam [both in Netherlands] in coal, salt, iron, sandstone, etc."

This image shows the slipway down to the sea next to the former salt girnel.  I guess that at one time this could have been a hive of activity.  Finally, at the foot of this post is a view of the front of the Drum Park houses (and beyond them the site of the old panhouse - now private homes) on a beautiful summer's day last year.