Leuchars
| Leuchars Gaelic: Luachar | |
| Fife | |
|---|---|
 St Athernase Church in Leuchars | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | NO455215 |
| Location: | 56°22’53"N, 2°53’1"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 5,684 |
| Post town: | St Andrews |
| Postcode: | KY16 |
| Dialling code: | 01334 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Fife |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
North East Fife |
Leuchars is a small town and parish near the north-east coast of Fife. The parish additionally includes Balmullo and Guardbridge. The town has a population of 3,060, with the wider parish encompassing 5,684.
History
The surrounding area was improved by drainage in the 18th century. In the 19th century, a railway station on the line from Edinburgh to Aberdeen brought increased prosperity to the town. When the St Andrews Railway branch line was closed in the late 1960s, Leuchars became the closest place to get the train to St Andrews. Since then, Leuchars railway station has been used by many University of St Andrews students.
The 12th century St Athernase Church is one of the finest surviving examples of an unaisled Romanesque parish church in Scotland, or indeed anywhere in Great Britain, with two levels of blind arcading in the Norman style running round the exterior, surmounted by a corbel table with heads of various designs. The interior has elaborate chancel and apse arches, and a series of powerful beast-heads on the corbels supporting the ribs of the internal vaults. The nave has unfortunately been rebuilt. The apse roof is crowned by a rather incongruous small bell-tower added in the 17th century.
Geography
The town is located near the north-eastern coast of Fife.
The town is nearly two miles to the north of the village of Guardbridge, which lies on the north bank of the River Eden where it widens to the Edenmouth estuary before joining the North Sea at St Andrews Bay. Leuchars is 7½ miles north-east of Cupar and six miles north-west from the university town of St Andrews. The city of Dundee is seven miles to the north, across the rail and road bridges that span the Firth of Tay.
The town had an adjoining Royal Air Force base, RAF Leuchars which was established in 1920, and was home to the Eurofighter Typhoon. In 2015, the RAF base became an Army base, as the regimental headquarters of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, who saw their return to Scotland after 20 years in Germany, as coming home.