Glamis Tower

Kinghorn is a small seaside town on the north shore of the Firth of Forth in Fife. It has two beaches and a fishing port, with the A921 road and the Fife Coastal Path running through it. The town lies opposite Edinburgh and is linked by railway to Aberdeen and the Fife Circle line. Kinghorn once had a royal castle visited by the Scottish Court, where King Alexander III died in 1286. The town was also the site of a later castle called Glamis Tower, which disappeared long ago. The town played a part in Scotland’s religious and political history. In 1560, French troops fought the Lords of the Congregation at Pettycur Bay during the Reformation. Kinghorn Castle remained important to the Crown and became the seat of the Earldom of Kinghorne in 1606. The town’s name comes from the Gaelic for ‘head of the marsh’, and early Christian activity is suggested by nearby place names. A freshwater loch above the town once powered flax mills, and the railway viaduct built in 1846 split the town in two. Visitors find a quiet coastal town with a mix of old and modern buildings. The parish church has a tower added in 1895, and the town hall was designed by Thomas Hamilton in 1830. The war memorial, sculpted by Alexander Carrick, stands in the town centre. Kinghorn Primary School occupies a former parish school building from 1823, now a library and community centre. The annual Black Rock ‘5’ Race draws runners to the beach each year.