Portmoak
Portmoak is a parish in Kinross-shire. It consists of a group of settlements running north to south, namely Glenlomond, Wester Balgedie, Easter Balgedie, Kinnesswood, Kilmagadwood and Scotlandwell.
Portmoak has an amateur football team competing in the Perthshire 3rd division.
Geography
The parish is on the east side of Kinross-shire lying between Loch Leven and Fife. It is bounded by the parishes of Cleish, Kinross and Orwell in Kinross-shire; and Strathmiglo, Falkland, Leslie, Kinglassie, Auchterderran and Ballingry in Fife. It includes St Serf's Island in Loch Leven. The area is a rich landscape of braes, crags, fine meadows, fertile fields and plantations. The main villages are Kinnesswood where the Post Office is situated and Scotlandwell. As the name implies Scotlandwell is home to a well where King Robert the Bruce is reputed to have been cured of leprosy by drinking the waters. At one time it was an important monastic centre, the monks ran a hospital here from which patients took the spring water as part of their treatment. Pilgrims journeyed from St. Andrews[1] The Scottish Gliding Union at Portmoak Airfield, Scotlandwell is the largest gliding club in Scotland.
Now a commuter village Wester Balgedie or Meikle Balgedie lies four miles east of Kinross overlooking Loch Leven. At a fork in the road stands the Balgedie Toll Tavern, a building dating from the 19th Century.[2] A tavern has stood here from around 1534.
Two woods, Kilmagad Wood and Portmoak Moss are situated adjacent to the villages of and Kinnesswood and Scotlandwell. Kilmagadwood is known to the locals as The Cuckoo Wood.
Parish Church
The local Parish Church of the Church of Scotland is Orwell and Portmoak Parish Church. The present Portmoak Parish Church building, built in 1832, is the third on the site. The bell is dated 1642 and the Celtic crosses are of the 10th or 11th centuries. A Memorial stone in the graveyard is for Michael Bruce, 1746 to 1767, poet and author of several scripture paraphrases used in Church of Scotland worship.
