MARKINCH Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan

MARKINCH Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan DEVELOPMENT SERVICESS MARKINCH CONSERVATION AREA APPRAISAL AND MANAGEMENT PLAN CONTENTS 1. Introduction and Purpose 1.1 Conservation Areas 1.2 The Purpose of this Document 2. Historic Development 2.1 Origins of Settlement 2.2 Settlement Development 2.3 Archaeological and Historical Significance of the Area 3. Townscape Analysis 3.1 Location and Setting 3.2 Topography and Street Pattern 3.3 Building Styles and Materials 3.4 Listed Buildings 3.5 Trees and Landscape 3.6 Activity and Movement 3.7 Public Realm 3.8 Negative Features 4. Conservation Management Strategy 4.1 Management Plan 4.2 Planning Policy 4.3 Supplementary Planning Guidance 4.4 Article 4 Directions 4.5 Monitoring and Review 4.6 Further Advice Appendix 1: Markinch Article 4 Directions Appendix 2: Table of Listed Buildings in the Conservation Area 2 3 1. Introduction and Purpose 1.1 Conservation Areas In accordance with the provisions contained in the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 all planning authorities are obliged to consider the designation of conservation areas from time to time. Markinch Conservation Area is 1 of 48 Conservation Areas located in Fife. These are all areas of particular architectural or historic value, the character or appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance. Fife Council is keen to ensure that the quality of these areas is maintained for the benefit of present and future generations. Conservation area designation is not a means to preserve an area without change, but there is a joint responsibility between residents and the council to ensure that change is not indiscriminate or damaging, and that the unique character of each area is respected. In this way, communities can benefit from living in an environment that is of recognisable value. 1.2 The Purpose of this Document The purpose of the Markinch Conservation Area Appraisal is: • To confirm the importance of the designation of the area and to review the current Conservation Area boundaries • To highlight the significance of the area in terms of townscape, architecture and history • To identify important issues affecting the area • To identify opportunities for development and enhancement • To stimulate interest and participation in conservation issues amongst people living and working in the area • To provide a framework for future management 4 2.0 Historical Development 2.1 Origins of Settlement Recent archaeological work has illustrated that the area to the north west of Markinch was of great importance as a ritual site in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages. The standing stones re-sited in Balbirnie Park survive as a testament to this prehistoric activity. The Parish Church is dedicated to the Pictish Saint Drostan and this may indicate a link with the Pictish past unless the cult of the saint was imported at a later date by their successors the Scots. Although the evidence for the Picts is slight, there was certainly an early Gaelic speaking Culdee foundation at Markinch linked to Loch Leven Priory confirmed by charters of the 11th century. This may have been on the site of the present church or close by. The 11th century settlement would have clustered around this early church. Recent research has pointed to Northhall cemetery mound, a few hundred yards to the north of the church as the site of Dalginch. This place is identified in several medieval manuscripts as one of Scotland’s seven principal locations for the dispensation of justice. As Markinch was probably on the border between the two Pictish sub kingdoms of Fife and Fothrif, this 12th century legal status might point to an even earlier importance as an assembly area during the pre-Gaelic Pictish period. Left: The Norman Tower of Markinch Parish Church Below: The crowstepped Session House by Rowand Anderson in the Kirkyard The raised land upon which Markinch is built may well have been considered a useful defensive point made up of of several “inches” partly surrounded by water, then marsh 5 that was only drained in comparatively recent times. The name Markinch is thought to derive from “the inch of the horses” believed by Simon Taylor to be the place where warrior’s horses were grazed while assemblies took place at nearby Dalginch. Dating from the early 12 th century, the Norman tower of what is now Markinch Parish Church is the town’s architectural treasure. A well-preserved example of this type of tower, with Romanesque detailing similar to that at St Rule’s Tower, St Andrews, it exemplifies the importance and power the MacDuff Earls of Fife had in Markinch at that time. The town began to decline not long afterwards as the family began to focus upon Falkland and Cupar. The Church was granted to the Priory of St Andrews. The marshy surroundings, poor access to the sea and the lack of burgh status all contributed to this decline, but the tower remains as a rare survival from the Normano- Scottish period in Markinch’s history. 2.2 Settlement Development OS Plan of Markinch 1854 In 1673 Markinch was granted the status of a Burgh of Barony, with the right to trade leading to an expansion of housing around the Mercat Cross and the Kirk. The Mercat Cross was situated outside the gate of the Kirk and was removed to facilitate the movement of materials for the Earl of Leven’s grave. In the late 18 th century the marshes around the town were drained, and new roads built, strengthening the town’s links to the main north-south toll road that crossed Fife. This led to further expansion, and the levelling of Ward Knowe to create the area of Commercial Street, Betson Street and Balbirnie Street. The industrial revolution then 6 heralded a new era in Markinch’s fortunes, with local mines and the harnessing of the River Leven allowing the area to prosper, as well as its eventual position on the Perth, Dundee and Edinburgh section of the North British rail line. Commercial activity flourished and a number of prominent public buildings were built in the mid-late 1800s. Markinch has in the past served as a market town, and according to Groome’s “Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland” of 1882, the town “contained a number of a good shops, which draw their custom from the surrounding district, in which are situated the mills and bleachfields which give employment to the inhabitants”. The population of Markinch Parish reached a peak of 6800 in 1901, having risen from as low as 1230 in 1861, due to the expansion of industrial activity, and by the 20 th century new industries such as whisky bottling and paper-making continued this economic success. Much of the historic townscape of Markinch was lost in the inter- War period as slum clearance legislation was used to rehouse the inhabitants from the centre to estates on the periphery. 2.3 Archaeological and Historical Significance of the Area As noted, the area around Markinch was of great significance in the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods. What remains of the standing stones in Balbirnie Park are part of an originally much larger ritual site that was in use for 2000 years from around 4000 BC. Roy, 1755 The nature of the early ecclesiastical settlement in Markinch prior to the 11 th century is the subject of some debate, with St Drostan’s situation on a knoll by a river, among other potential signifiers, perhaps indicating an early mediaeval monastic settlement here. The unusual curved street pattern seen today in Commercial Street and School Street, for example, has also been suggested as evidence of an early boundary 7 alignment in the form of a ditch enclosure of a monastic settlement. Remaining distinctive today, the curved settlement pattern has been the defining feature of Markinch in the past, as illustrated by Roy’s map of 1755 on p.7 and the Ordnance Survey plan of 1854 on p.6. Aerial view of St Drostan’s, early 20 th century From above, the settlement can be seen to radiate out from the central point of the church (see aerial views on pp.7 and 9). This effect can be seen in other settlements that have developed from early monastic foundations, such as Dunning in Perthshire. Archaeological excavation and research is ongoing at a number of sites around Markinch. There are no scheduled monuments in the conservation area. The Stob Cross, by the East Lodge of Balbirnie House, is a scheduled monument, thought to mark the boundary of a religious or secular sanctuary. 8 3.0 Townscape Analysis 3.1 Location and Setting Markinch is located in central Fife. Surrounded by plantation and farmland, and the neighbouring Balbirnie Estate to the northwest, Markinch retains the prospect of a small, semi-rural town in spite of its proximity to Glenrothes 2 miles to the south west, Kirkcaldy 8 miles to the south, and the A92 dual carriageway. 3.2 Topography and Street Pattern The most striking thing about Markinch is the role of the Parish Church as a focal point for the settlement. Whilst the town is characterised on one approach by its large-scale industrial buildings; in the town centre as well as from afar the raised hill of the Church tends to draw the eye, and acts as a viewpoint along many of the town’s narrow streets. The church on its mound is particular striking when the town is approached from the south east. It is illuminated at night and visible from several miles away. Markinch is built on the top and sides of a low ridge, higher at the northern and southern ends.

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