Burgh of St Monans
Trade in salted fish and agricultural produce with Europe made these communities among the richest in Scotland. Today, fishing boats still operate from St Monans, bringing in lobsters and crabs, and boats are still built on a small scale.
St Monans has a long history, based around the sea and the church. It’s traditional fishermen’s cottages with their distinctive outside stairs, known as forestairs, crow-stepped gables and red pantiled roofs, appear unchanged from past times. Take time to wander through the village perching precariously along the shoreline and hugging the harbour wall.
St Monans is perhaps the most typical fishing village in the East Neuk, huddled against the sea wall right on the edge of the shoreline.
The burgh was originally called Inverin, meaning the village at the mouth (inver) of the Inverie burn or stream (rin). St Monans took its present name from the presence of a shrine said to contain the relics of St Monan, the Irish missionary companion of St Adain. The shrine, which became known for its healing powers, attracted pilgrims and a settlement grew up around it to provide shelter, food and souvenirs. King David II visited the shrine in 1362 after being injured at the Battle of Neville’s Cross. His arrow wounds healed, and as a mark of gratitude he built a church, now a distinctive landmark on the shore west of the village.
In the 19th century, the architect Sir Robert Lorimer developed a scheme to restore Newark Castle for Sir William Burrell, the Glasgow shipping merchant. If the plan had gone ahead, the Burrell Collection might have ended up in St Monans, instead of Glasgow!
The Auld Kirk of St Monans
Inside the Auld Kirk, the church built closest to the sea in Scotland, are aumbries, piscinas and sedilia (stone seats for priests) used before the Reformation. There is also an early 19th century model of a Royal Navy frigate and a model of a steam drifter built in St Monans - both reminders of the town’s close connections with the sea.
Windmill
payment of a deposit from the Post Office, West Shore, tel: 01333 730240, and from the Spar Shop, West Street, tel: 01333 730315.
A windmill along the coast between St Monans and Pittenweem is an unusual reminder of the short-lived salt industry. Sir John Anstruther and Robert Fall set up Newark Coal and Salt Company and, in 1771, began extracting low-grade coal at nearby Coal Farm. The windmill was used to evaporate sea water in iron pans along the shore. The salt produced was transported along a wooden, horse-drawn waggon-way to Pittenweem harbour for export. The settling tank and channel can still be seen while recent excavations have revealed the remains of the nine pan-houses. Salt production was abandoned by 1823.
