The Mack Walks: Short Walks in Under 10 km

Culross-Country and Heritage Walk ()

Route Summary This is an easy walk in the countryside environment around and about the unique and historic Fife coastal village of . The route offers fine views over the before exploring the village’s charming architectural treasures.

Duration: 3 hours.

Route Overview Duration: 3 hours. Transport/Parking: There are Stagecoach bus options for Culross. Check timetables. Free parking at the East Car-Park, where the walk starts and ends. Length: 7.840 km / 4.90 mi Height Gain: 134 meter. Height Loss: 134 meter. Max Height: 72 meter. Min Height: 2 meter. Surface: Moderate. A mix of hard-surfaced paths, woodland tracks, farm roads and minor roads. May be muddy in places. Difficulty: Easy. Child Friendly: Yes, if children are used to walks of this distance. Dog Friendly: Yes, but keep dogs on lead on public roads and near farm animals. Refreshments: In no particular order: Bessie's Cafe, Biscuit Cafe, Admiral Cafe, Cafe, Red Lion Hotel/Pub.

Description This is a memorable and effortless ramble along the coastline and into the countryside around and about the charming historic village of Culross (pronounced Koo-Riss) on the banks of the Firth of Forth. The route also takes us to a wooded glade where there is the grave of a family of children who succumbed to the Plague in 1645, before moving on through farmland to the ruins of the West Kirk, a pre-Reformation church from the early 16thC, with a commanding view over the Firth of Forth. Descending towards Culross, we arrive at the impressive partial ruins of , a former Cistercian abbey, founded in 1217. Culross is a very special place, mostly thanks to the work of the National Trust for Scotland who have been working on its preservation and restoration since the 1930s. From the NTS website: “… Culross is Scotland’s most complete example of a of the 17th and 18th centuries. White- harled houses with red-tiled roofs line the steep cobbled streets which run from the market cross to the hilltop abbey. In the centre is the ochre-coloured palace with its beautifully reconstructed period garden … It’s little wonder that Culross is acknowledged as one of the most picturesque villages in Scotland - or that it’s so often used as a film and television location … The streets of Culross have appeared many times in the hit US TV series Outlander ...”. For guidance information about Culross, see the following useful links: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culross https://www.nts.org.uk/visit/places/culross https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/culross/culross/index.html Waypoints (1) Start walk at the East Car Park in Culross (56.05544; -3.62304) https://w3w.co/computers.join.housework From the East Car Park in Culross, where there are a number of information boards, walk towards the sea and turn right to take the (Fife) coastal path in a westerly direction. The old village rises up the hillside on your right side. Soon you will pass what remains of the old pier. Keep going as you start to leave the village behind you.

(2) Right off coastal path (56.05321; -3.64737) https://w3w.co/wounds.snug.damage After 1.6 km, go right down some steps to cross a short grassy path connecting to the minor road from Kincardine to Culross. Cross the road with care and enter the driveway signposted for Blair Castle, passing the lodge house on your left side. Keep walking along the wooded driveway. (1.6 km)

(3) Right at Blair Castle junction (56.05529; -3.65628) https://w3w.co/preoccupied.elections.crunching After 700 m, at a triangular junction with the Blair Castle miner's convalescent home on your left side, take the right fork. The rough road starts to ascend gently up the hillside, passing the Blair Mains farm. (2.3 km)

(4) Right for woodland path (56.06304; -3.65928) https://w3w.co/scribble.brittle.pacifist In 900 m, arriving at a walks signpost, turn right to leave the rough road and follow a narrow path into the trees. Soon there is an open field on your right side. (3.2 km) (5) Left and over stile for path to Plague Grave (56.06260; -3.65667) https://w3w.co/played.grills.ramps In 200 m you will arrive at a sign for a 'Plague Grave'. Cross the basic stile on your left side and follow the path a short distance into the wood. (3.4 km)

(6) Plague Grave (56.06337; -3.65634) https://w3w.co/played.grills.ramps In about 100 m you will arrive at a small fenced off area in a clearing with a the 'Plague Grave'* gravestone lying flat on the ground, and a wooden post with the date 1645 inscribed. When you are ready, re-trace your steps and re-cross the fence to re- join the path you were on. Carry on walking in an easterly direction as the path joins a grassy field access road. (3.5 km)

*Note: '... Culross Moor appears to have been used for burials of plague victims, the last outbreak being in 1645. One such burial was recorded on this recumbent grave stone, which ... bore a shield, the crown and hammer (the insignia of the girdlesmiths) and the inscription 'Here lyes Robert, Agnes, Jeane, Baids, children was to ...I C ... (girdlemak)er bvrges of Cvlros (who departed) af this Lyf in the Visetaseon 24 Septr. Ano 1645'. When seen in 1953, the stone, covering a stone- lined grave, had been split in two, and very little of the inscription could be read ...' See: https://canmore.org.uk/event/707953

(7) Left for ruin of Old West Church (56.06001; -3.64071) https://w3w.co/winds.belly.movies After 1.1 km you will arrive at the ruins of the Culross Old West Church* and graveyard, amongst trees on your left side. Enter the graveyard by a gap in the low wall and explore the ruins, with many very old gravestones. When you are ready, leave the graveyard by the obvious path on the eastern side and re-join the rough grassy road you were on, continuing to walk in an easterly direction back towards Culross. (4.6 km)

*Note: '... replaced by the Abbey Parish Church ... by an Act of Parliament of 1633. However, it appears that the church had been out of use for some time before this, as the Act records that it was already in a ruinous condition. The church is now roofless and a large tree grows inside the western end of the building and much ivy on the walls ... There is a large variety of headstones and table stones within the graveyard dating from the seventeenth-nineteenth centuries. The earlier monuments display symbols of death and mortality and a number of trades are also depicted, such as farmer, mariner and miner ...' See: http://www.scottishchurches.org.uk/sites/site/id/1641/name/Culross+West+Church+Culross+Fife (8) Carry straight on for Culross Abbey (56.05927; -3.63771) https://w3w.co/pounces.morphing.introduce In less than 400 m from the ruined church you will arrive at a walks signpost. Carry straight on here, for Culross. (5.0 km)

(9) Take left fork (56.05918; -3.63341) https://w3w.co/norms.disposal.comedy In another 300 m, the rough field access road meets a narrow tarred road at a y-junction. Take the left fork. The road has stone walls on each side, and gently ascends up the hillside, between fields. (5.3 km)

(10) Right down minor road (56.05966; -3.62799) https://w3w.co/prove.laces.finer After another 300 m, you will arrive at a t-junction with the minor road known as Kirk Street. Go right and gently down hill in the direction of Culross. (5.6 km) (11) Site of Culross Abbey (56.05832; -3.62644) https://w3w.co/distanced.napkins.neutron In 200 m, you will have arrived at Culross Abbey*. There are some interesting old gravestones surrounding the remaining intact part of the abbey, which is used by the Church of Scotland as the local parish church. The main entrance to the Abbey ruins, now managed by Historic Environment Scotland, is a little further down the road past the Manse house (and seasonal tea-room). After checking out the Abbey site, continue walking downhill on Kirk Street into the village of Culross. (5.8 km)

*Note: "... Culross Abbey is a former Cistercian abbey ... The Abbey was founded in 1217 by Malcolm I, Mormaer or Earl of Fife, and was first colonised by from ... Culross may have been chosen to establish an abbey because this was the birthplace of . It is evident that the abbey was built over the earlier Pictish church supposedly founded by in the 6th century ..." See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culross_Abbey and https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/culross-abbey/history/

(12) Mercat Cross (56.05563; -3.62837) https://w3w.co/difficult.hips.circles In just over 300 m from the Abbey ruins entrance you will have descended down Kirk Street and then Tanhouse Brae to the impressive Mercat Cross in Culross*, surrounded by the charming and very old (16th/17th/18th Century) buildings that characterise this special place. On our map, we have provided a possible route for exploring the village but you will probably want to take time to wander around and make your own route. We do suggest, however, that you ascend the steps/lane signed as the Bessie Bar Steps, just beyond Bessie's Cafe at the Palace, to gain a fine view of the Hanging Gardens and over the rooftops of Culross above the Palace. When you have completed your exploration of the village head east along Low Causewayside Street to the East Car-Park where you started the walk, passing the primary school on your right side. Alternatively, you could make your return along the coastal path. (6.5 km)

*Note: See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culross and https://www.nts.org.uk/visit/places/culross and https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/culross/culross/index.html

(13) Finish walk back at the East Car Park (56.05547; -3.62309) https://w3w.co/computers.join.housework Finish the walk back at the East Car Park where you started. (7.8 km) Route Map

Links: Photos from walk Download Route Guide (PDF with illustrated Waypoints) Download GPX file (GPS Exchange Format) Access Walk on Viewranger Access Walk on Wikiloc