Scoonie

Scoonie is a parish in Fife, Scotland containing the town of Leven. It is bordered on the north by the parishes of Kettle and Ceres, on the east by the parish of Largo, on the south by the parishes of Markinch and Wemyss, and on the west by the parishes of Markinch and Kennoway. It extends about 4 ½ miles north to south. Its width varies between 5/8 miles and 2¾ miles. Area 4286 acres. The parish is on the coast of the Firth of Forth, with a coastline of about 1½ miles[1]

Parish of Scoonie, 1900

The River Leven forms the southern boundary of the parish, flowing into Largo Bay. The surface rises gradually northward to 600 feet near Kilmux Wood.[1]

In 1951 the population of the parish was 9,518 [2]

The old parish church is now a ruin lying in the centre of the burial ground.[1] It was constructed in the twelfth century and all that remains is a roofless structure which may have been the session house or vestry of the church.[3]


Aithernie Castle in the north of the parish

Durie House lies in the centre of the parish. This mansion, built in 1762 as the seat of the Durie family, is now a listed building.[4] On the northern borders of the parish are the historic estate of Montrave and the ruined castle of Aithernie, by the banks of Scoonie burn.[5]

A Parochial Board was established for Scoonie under the Poor Law (Scotland) Act 1845. The town of Leven became a Police burgh when in 1867 the inhabitants adopted the General and Police Improvement (Scotland) Act, 1862, Andrew Wilkie being elected as the first Chief Magistrate from April 1869. The "landward" part of the parish, namely the area outside of the burgh of Leven, achieved local self government under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1894 when Scoonie Parish Council was established, with John Wilkie elected as first Chairman on 20th May 1895. [6]

Civil parishes in Scotland, as units of local government, were abolished in 1929 [7] but have been used later for census purposes. The ecclesiastic parish is now named Leven [8]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland, by Francis Groome, 1882-4
  2. ↑ Vision of Britain web site http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10017208/cube/TOT_POP accessed 21 April 2015
  3. ↑ Places of Worship in Scotland http://www.scottishchurches.org.uk/sites/places/region/Fife/parish/Scoonie extracted 21 April 2014
  4. ↑ See Historic Scotland's web site http://portal.historic-scotland.gov.uk/hes/web/f?p=PORTAL:DESIGNATION:::::DES:LB16699 retrieved Feb 2016
  5. ↑ Rambles in Parishes of Scoonie and Wemyss, by A.S. Cunningham, publ.1905, pp.116-121
  6. ↑ Rambles in Parishes of Scoonie and Wemyss, by A.S. Cunningham, publ.1905, pp.40 and 82
  7. ↑ Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929
  8. ↑ Presbytery of Kirkcaldy http://www.presbyteryofkirkcaldy.org.uk/ extract 21 April 2014


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