Dunfermline

Overview

Once the capital of Scotland, the 'auld grey toun' of Dunfermline is at the heart of Scotland's history.

Dunfermline's royal and monastic past dominates the town, which can boast a royal palace, a twelfth century abbey (which is the final resting place of Robert the Bruce and the burial site of eleven other Scottish kings and queens), the restored 15th-century Abbot House and the cave in which St Margaret bathed the feet of the poor. King Malcolm Canmore established his court after the death of Macbeth at the now ruined fortified tower in the heart of Pittencrieff Glen. Dunfermline was the birthplace of James I in 1394 and of Charles I in 1600.

Philanthropist Andrew Carnegie was born here in 1835 and the Carnegie Trust have benefitted the town greatly. The first of many Carnegie Libraries was built here in 1881 and both Carnegie Hall and Pittencrieff Park were gifted to the town by the 'Star-spangled Scotchman'. Carnegie's birthplace, a humble weaver's cottage, has been preserved and extended to include a museum of his life.