Kennoway
| Kennoway | |
| Fife | |
|---|---|
 Leven Road, Kennoway | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | NO345020 |
| Location: | 56°12’25"N, 3°3’23"W |
| Data | |
| Postcode: | KY8 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Fife |
Kennoway is a village in Fife, inland but near the larger population centres in the area of Leven and Methil, which are on the coast. It is about three miles inland from the Firth of Forth, north of Leven. This position gave it importance in the old days while travelling by coach, for the stage road ran through Kennoway from the ferry at Pettycur, through Ceres, and on to St Andrews.
The midst of the village at the crossroads of the A916 with the road to Leven, is its older heart, and here stands the parish church, with developments grown to the north and the south. There is a King George V Playing Field here, on Cupar Road.
The surrounding towns of Methil, Lower Methil, Buckhaven and Leven along with Kennoway are the main constituents of the area known as 'Levenmouth', a name more used amongst academics and economists than by real people.
Name
Kennoway derives its name from the Gaelic ceann achadh, meaning "head of the field". Records of the name as Cenachedne in 1148 demonstrate this origin; the English-looking "-way" was a later adaptation of the name. Another possibility suggested is that the name is derived from St Kenneth (Cainnech). The earliest Culdee church was erected to his memory in Kennoway and is associated with many of the legends about St Kenneth. He is believed to have spent many years spreading the Christian faith in Scotland during the 6th century.
There have been many spellings of the name Kennoway, including Kennachin, Kennauchyn, Kennaukin, Kennochi and Kennochy.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Kennoway) |