Scoonie
Scoonie is a parish in Fife, containing the town of Leven. It is bounded 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 4½ miles north to south. Its width varies between ⅝ mile and 2¾ miles. It has an area of 4,286 acres. The parish is on the coast of the Firth of Forth, with a coastline of about 1½ miles.[1]
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]
The population has remained remarkably stable: In 1951 it was 9,518,[2] whereas in 2011 it was 9,554.
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]
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 in 1845. The town of Leven became a Police burgh in 1867, with 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 when Scoonie Parish Council was established, with John Wilkie elected as first Chairman on 20th May 1895.[6]
The ecclesiastical parish is now named Leven.[7]
References
- Location map: 56°12’51"N, 3°-0’41"W
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland, by Francis Groome, 1882-4
- ↑ Vision of Britain, accessed 21 April 2015
- ↑ Places of Worship in Scotland, extracted 21 April 2014
- ↑ See Historic Scotland, retrieved Feb 2016
- ↑ Rambles in Parishes of Scoonie and Wemyss, by A.S. Cunningham, publ.1905, pp.116-121
- ↑ Rambles in Parishes of Scoonie and Wemyss, by A.S. Cunningham, publ.1905, pp.40 and 82
- ↑ Presbytery of Kirkcaldy http://www.presbyteryofkirkcaldy.org.uk/ extract 21 April 2014
