Sources (from top): Fifeshire Advertiser 27 June 1874 and 1 Oct 1870; Fife Herald 13 April 1865; Fifeshire Advertiser 24 Feb 1872; Fife Herald 22 Aug 1867; Fifeshire Advertiser 9 April 1870; Fife Free Press 31 June 1936
The reporting of local news has evolved greatly over the decades. As the sample of articles from Largo and Lundin Mill below illustrates, there was once a much greater emphasis on the natural environment and our use of it. I find it quite charming that clouds of flies, swarms of bees, nest building and potato shaws were all considered newsworthy....and all very eloquently reported too. Sources (from top): Fifeshire Advertiser 27 June 1874 and 1 Oct 1870; Fife Herald 13 April 1865; Fifeshire Advertiser 24 Feb 1872; Fife Herald 22 Aug 1867; Fifeshire Advertiser 9 April 1870; Fife Free Press 31 June 1936
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Over the centuries there have been several mills and many millers at Lundin Mill. The above photograph features the flour mill in the foreground (1) , the corn mill in the background (3) and the bakery in between the two (2). Information about the earliest millers is hard to find but census data helps from the mid 19th century onwards. The first census of 1841 recorded several individuals with the occupation 'miller' in Lundin Mill including Peter Smith, Thomas Watson, Hendrey Pratt and James White. There was also an apprentice miller - David Nicoll. Tragically, just a few months after the census, David Nicoll perished in an accident at the corn mill (see article below from 7 October Fife Herald). In the 1854 map above, the two mills in Lundin Mill are clearly marked - the corn mill to the west and the flour mill to the east. The corn mill was occupied by James White, son of John White (or Whyte) who was miller and farmer on the site before his son. John Whyte's will set out an inventory of his possessions, which provides an enlightening insight to life as a farmer/miller at that time (1844). These included: shares in the Largo Granary Company, nine stacks of wheat, ten stacks of oats, six stacks of barley, a stack of clover hay, five acres of turnip, a pit of potatoes, eight work horses, eleven cows of different ages, three calves, seven breeding swine, two boars, seven young pigs, four coup carts, three corn carts, three iron ploughs, three pair of iron harrows, one cast iron roller, one turnip sowing machine, two pails, two tubs, sixty sacks, four shovels, four forks, five rakes, one sieve, one meal girnel, a wheelbarrow, dung, thrashing machine, two dozen milk basins, six milk pitchers, a cheese press and two cheese vats. The flour mill was described in the mid-19th century as "a large stone building in good repair, erected for and used as a flour mill it is in good repair and has offices and a dwelling house attached to it. It is worked partly by water and partly by steam power." At that time, it was occupied by the miller George Smith. He was son of the previous miller (noted in the 1841 census), Peter Smith, who had died in 1843 aged around 57. Another son of Peter Smith (also named Peter) was a miller at Cameron Bridge by WIndygates. George Smith died in 1855 aged just 33, after which the mill was advertised for let and his own equipment advertised for sale (see below from Fife Herald). Meantime, brother Peter continued as miller at Cameron Mill until a move in 1867 to Lundin Mill (see notice published in Fife Herald below). He had owned property in Lundin Mill, Kennoway and Windygates for many years and his Lundin Mill home was Emsdorf House (the largest property on Emsdorf Street). Presumably he used that property for weekends and leisure such as golf. Peter had married Christina Swinton a baker's daughter from Dysart. Together they had at least five sons, two of whom were millers. The permanent move to Lundin Mill at the age of around 60 seems to have coincided with Peter's retirement, as by the 1871 census Peter Smith is described as a 'retired miller'. The change of pace enabled Peter to spend more time enjoying golf and in 1868 he was one of the group (including Frederick Lumsden and Colin McTaggart) that set up the Lundin Golf Club. Retirement was short-lived, however, as Peter Smith died suddenly at Lundin Mill on 3 September 1871, aged 65.
Most of Upper Largo is visible in the above view taken from Largo Law, although North Feus is cut off to the right, as is Church Place. Also absent are the more recent additions of Woodlaw Park and Aithernie Drive. In the foreground is Chesterstone Farm on the left and its associated cottages to the right. Neighbouring Buckthorns Farm lies just off to the left in the distance - some of its cottages are marked further along the A917.
The significant cluster of trees in the centre of the image directly behind the row of buildings along the A917 is known as The Grove. Before the house of the same name was built there c1914 for Evelyn Baxter, this area was a bleaching green. It had a well which was utilised in the watering of the linen that was bleached there. The Simpson Institute is central to the image. Built in 1891, the Institute has tennis courts and a bowling green within its grounds. Next to it is Crichton Place, the short terrace of eight flats, which once had a curling pond to the rear. St Leonards, the house once home to Dr Palm and then to Dr Eggeling can be seen at the corner of South Feus. To the right of this, the tree-lined Serpentine Walk can be seen snaking into the distance towards Lower Largo. The garage on Main Street can be seen with its distinctive peak. Originally the Free Church, the associated manse is also marked. Between the garage and old manse is Wood's Hospital (now known as John Wood's Houses) which has origins going back 350 years. Below is the same view without annotations. The above image shows golfers at the 5th hole on Leven Links probably in the early years of the twentieth century. In the background are the buildings of Sunnybraes Farm - the first buildings seen when approaching Lundin Links from Leven.
There are three distinct clumps of trees in the image (see map below from c1912): one in the middle of the field on the far side of the main road (long since removed), one between Sunnybraes and Aithernie (since largely built upon) and one running down the slope from Aithernie (now the Old Manor Hotel) towards the railway station (these trees are also mostly gone and modern housing has been built in the area). The railway line and telephone posts can be seen running between the Leven Links and the land that was part of Sunnybraes Farm but became part of the Lundin Golf Course. Note the roughness of the golf course, aside from the green itself. The flag seems to be on a bamboo cane. The map below gives more detail of the area, including the presence of a 'sheep fold' at the corner of the Leven Road and Pilmuir Road. In a recent post, I speculated over what the many huts were visible beyond The Temple at Lower Largo around the 1940s. Well, thanks to some comments from blog readers and some further research, I can confirm that these huts housed poultry as part of Buckthorns Farm. The above image marks the hen huts and the site of the Viewforth houses on each side of the railway line. The extract from the 1950 valuation roll for the area (below) shows both the Buckthorns Poultry Farm and the other houses at Viewforth. By this stage the two houses closest to the sea had been condemned ('Viewforth B' above). Viewforth of course is a very old site that once was the location of a salt works.
Amazingly, even plans for the 'hen and duck houses' could be found on-line. The plan shown below was dated 1910, so poultry must have been kept on the site for upwards of forty years! The photographs at the foot of this post show the Viewforth site as it is today. The above postcard image shows a busy beach scene looking from close to The Orry at Lower Largo towards The Temple. Zooming in a little (see below), the left-hand-side of the image shows a beach busy with bathers. However, on the right-hand-side between the end of The Temple and Viewforth some unusual hut-like structures can be seen scattered about the slope above the railway line. They appear again in a similar postcard scene shown further below. What are these? Read on below for my theory. The above images date from around the 1940s and so I wonder whether these are war-time related buildings. Perhaps poultry sheds to bolster the supplies of meat and eggs? Or sheds to house some other livestock? Maybe they were there for longer than just the duration of the war? Another view of these structures can be seen in the 1944 aerial photograph below (on the right surrounding the Viewforth buildings). It shows about a dozen of the sheds - many with worn ground immediately around them. If you can confirm what these were or have further information - please comment.
The house on the left in the images below (top view from the early twentieth century, lower view a century later) is Earnest Cottage. Although the name has morphed over the years into 'Ernest Cottage', the original name was spelled 'Earnest' and, through newspaper archives, the origins of that name and the cottage itself can be tracked down. Back in 1818, a man named John Beatson was captain of a ship named 'The Brig Earnest' (see advert below from the 18 March Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser). This ship had been built in Leith in 1804 by Menzies and Goalen as a 12 gun 80 x 23 ft gun-brig for the Royal Navy. Sold by the Navy in 1816, the Earnest became cargo ship operating out of London. John Beatson had been born in Methil in 1779 but his mother, Elizabeth Guthrie, was from Largo Parish. When Captain Beatson retired from his career at sea, he returned to his roots and set up home at the junction of Largo Road and Cupar Road, naming his house after the ship which he had captained. The cottage was built circa 1819. At what point John Beatson took ownership is unclear but by 1835 the Perthshire Courier reported that summer on the yield of his crops from the land adjoining Earnest Cottage. Beatson died on 28 December 1838 at the cottage at the age of 59. He was buried at the old Largo Churchyard alongside his parents, who had also returned to the parish of his mother's birth to end their days. Earnest Cottage is mentioned in the inscription on the gravestone. The property was put up for sale and a full description appeared in the Fife Herald of 6 June 1838 (below). It notes the cottage's "great facility for communication and travelling in every direction" with the coach service passing the house. Earnest Cottage must indeed have been an "eligible and delightful residence" in its heyday.
Concluding our tour of late 19th century Lundin Mill, courtesy of memoirs by Esther Menzies, written in 1974, we end up on 'The Wynd'. I don't know whether anyone still uses this name for the section of Largo Road that runs from the Lundin Links Hotel down the dip and over the bridge to the junction with the Cupar Road, but for a very long time it was known as The Wynd or Well Wynd. Starting at the hotel, Mrs Menzies spoke of "The Wynd with its bastion of fir trees on the left. The Fir Park is a landmark far and wide. Indeed it looks more impressive from a distance," On the right, behind the hotel, she speaks of a garage which had been converted from old house. Then of course was the well - originally a proper well and later on a water pump. Her account continues... "The road was joined by another leading from the foot of the Hillhead. On the north side of this the buildings were old, even then. Some bits have been demolished, others altered...Back to the main road again where the houses are below the road level on both sides. On the right was Adam's busy painting business and on the left with a level entry from the road was John Young's mother's shop. She sold toys along with other things. Indeed at that early stage, I don't remember any other place from which we could buy toys." The shop to which the writer refers was a Newsagent and Stationery shop run by Mrs Christina Young. She lived at 2 Bridge House and was a widow with three young children. Mrs Menzies said of this shop-keeper "her patience was inexhaustible." These valuable recollections, covered over the past several posts, finish with the following words: "Down to the left was that block of houses near the burn. I have been told that the reason the houses are below road level was that there was a ford across the burn and that the road was raised for the bridge over the burn....The baker's shop with the bakehouse down the steps was there and up on the hill was Lundin Mill farmhouse looking solid and substantial as it does now. The cottage was behind it and the bothy at the end of the outbuildings. The road went on past Jimmie Brown's garden and house and on to Cupar, where they say all roads in Fife lead." This document from December 1871 advises of an increase in rental for the Sunnybraes Farm (part of the Lundin Estate). At this time the farm was rented by long-time tenants the Forgans. James Forgan Senior had farmed there since at least the 1850s and handed over to his son, also James, around the 1870s. In the 1881 census, James Forgan Junior was recorded at Sunnybraes as "Farmer (of 300 acres, 200 arable, employing 4 men, 5 women and 1 boy)". The 1871 note of increase in rental includes an 'ochre rent' and a 'rent of sand pit'. Ochre is a natural earth pigment containing hydrated iron oxide, which ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. Used as a paint, it can be seen on walls of many historic buildings (for example in Culross). In the 1890s farmworkers cottages were built for Sunnybraes Farm on Pilmuir Road, close to the junction with Leven Road (now known as Pilmuir Cottages). James Forgan Jr remained at Sunnybraes after his retirement, until his death in 1923 at the age of 79. Although the above postcard is entitled "Golf Links and Railway Station", it's interesting to imagine this scene without either of these features. Prior to the creation of the Lundin Golf Club in 1868 and the building of the railway in 1857, all of this land would have been Sunnybraes Farm. The farm house is shown up on the high ground to the left, with the road to Leven running behind it. Dating from 1815, the Sunnybraes farmhouse has seen its neighbouring houses along Leven Road multiply over the decades. It's easy to see how the farm got its name - being situated on a south-facing slope, overlooking Largo Bay. The farm and its name pre-date the existing house, as the farm is named on a 1775 map. It is also mentioned in the Caledonian Mercury newspaper of 8 July 1775, in an advert which stated:
"Drummochy, by Leven - Land to be let for any number of years, not exceeding nineteen, the farms of Muirton of Lundin and Sunnybraes of Lundin, lying within the Parish of Largo, in the Shire of Fife. " It went on the describe Sunnybraes as being "remarkably convenient for sheep". Originally, not part of any village, Sunnybraes was considered closest to the village of Drummochy back in the 18th century. Produce from the farm may well have been transported using the port at Drummochy. With the creation of the railway station so close to the farm, I imagine rail must have been used at some point as well. Over time, the expansion of Lundin Links saw land use shift away from farming in this particular area. |
AboutThis blog is about the history of the villages of Lundin Links, Lower Largo and Upper Largo in Fife, Scotland. Comments and contributions from readers are very welcome!
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