Ordnance Survey large scale Scottish town plans, 1847-1895
The The name
Dunfermline is thought to have three compound parts. The first, Dun,
denotes a hill fort, and the remains of such a building can still be seen
today. Ferm and Line, however, have been more difficult to interpret and have been
suggested to mean ‘bend’ or ‘twist’ and ‘pool of water’ respectively. Another
possibility is that the last two parts refer to a personal name.
Reference to the town
of Dunfermline was first made during the reign of Malcolm Canmore (1031-93).
His wife Margaret founded the abbey there in 1071. This established the town as
the royal centre and thus Scotland’s earliest capital, until the reign of James
VI (1567-1625) when the emphasis moved to London. The parish of Dunfermline at this
time was 9 miles, north to south, and 6 miles east to west, with a surface area
of approximately 36 square miles. The population of Dunfermline was recorded in
1891 as 28,948.
Town Planning and Architecture
Dunfermline
town itself displays many of the features typical of a thriving medieval market
town. One long continuous main street, with the tron and market cross in the
centre, is intersected at right angles by narrow twisting closes. Dunfermline
Abbey, in the town centre, was one of Dunfermline’s many parish churches and is
situated next to the remains of the Royal Palace. Pittencrieff Glen, a private
estate at this time, also holds what are believed to be the remains of Malcolm
Canmore’s fortified tower house. It is estimated that the parish contained
about 2,800 houses in 1845.
The town of
Dunfermline’s main industry at this time was weaving. Mechanical weaving was
introduced to Dunfermline in 1847, hastening the decline of the handloom
weavers. The new mills, however, were a success and there was a sudden growth
in the establishment of factories. Dunfermline was an area already renowned for
its linen production and so this experience and these skills were tapped into.
With the arrival of industrialisation, the town now supported iron foundries,
tanneries, breweries, engineering works and bleachfields.
Dunfermline’s
hinterland industries were a vital source of economic and social stimulation.
One of the most prolific industries practised around the periphery of the town
was coal mining. Limestone quarrying, baking and milling, as well as sandstone
quarrying were also heavily relied upon for employment. Finally, agriculture
was also equally as important to this lush and expansive rural area. It is
thought that 13,391 acres of arable land was under cultivation at this time.
Dunfermline
town was one of Fife’s presbytery seats and as such the crown supported two
parish ministers on a salary of £299 (approximately £14,000 today) each. There
were three Free churches and four United Presbyterian churches in the town as
well as one house each of the Independent, Baptist, Episcopalian and Catholic
faiths. Dunfermline Abbey, a Benedictine Abbey until 1598, also housed one of
the town’s parish churches.
Education
Many of the schools
in Dunfermline had been previously been overseen by the town council, the
Guildry or private trusts, but after the 1872 Education Act, management of them
all was transferred to the Burgh-School Board. After some restructuring and new
purchases the board was eventually left with eight schools in the area. In 1891
the schools had an average attendance of 2,764 pupils although they had space
for 3,085.
By 1854 two railway
lines converged on Dunfermline, one from Stirling in the west and a branch of
Edinburgh and Northern Eastern line from the east. Two Liberal newspapers had
been established in the town by this time - the independent Dunfermline Press, in 1859, and the Dunfermline Journal, in 1872. The
Infectious Diseases Hospital, built in 1893, was also a recent addition to
Dunfermline’s medical facilities.
There were four main
families of importance living in and around the town during the nineteenth
century. The Setons, known as the Earls of Winton or Dunfermline, owned land
around Dalgety, although their main area of interest was around the Musselburgh
area of Lothian. The Bruce family, much better remembered as the infamous Earls
of Elgin, were based at the family estate of Broomhall. The Halketts of
Pitfirrane were an old and illustrious line who featured heavily in Scotland’s
past politics. Finally, the Wardlaws, designated Barons, enjoy a family seat on
their estate of Pitreavie. Dunfermline’s greatest name, however, Andrew
Carnegie, was now associated with the town. Carnegie, originally from the town,
had emmigrated to America, with his family, in the 1840s and there he made his
fortune in the railroads and metal-working. He returned much of this money to
the town through public gifts, such as the theatre, library and Pittencrieff
Park.
A View from Francis H. Groome, 1894
‘A
stranger, approaching Dunfermline for the first time, forms a very mistaken
notion of its extent, supposing it to be little else than a large village in a
grove; and, on entering, is surprised to find himself in a city teeming with
activity, bustling with trade, and in every way worthy of ranking with the
foremost burghs.’
Groome,
Francis H. (ed.), 1894-5. The Ordnance
Gazetteer of Scotland; a survey of Scottish topography, statistical,
biographical, and historical, 2nd ed., (London: William Mackenzie)
Mackay,
George, 2000. Scottish Place Names
(New Lanark: Lomond)
Smith,
Robert, 2001. The Making of Scotland: a
comprehensive guide to the growth of its cities, towns and villages (Edinburgh:
Canongate)
Wilson,
Rev. John Marius (ed.), 1857. The
Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland or Dictionary of Scottish Topography (Edinburgh:
A. Fullarton & Co.)
Edina
Website – Online Statistical Accounts of Scotland - http://edina.ac.uk/statacc/
.