Historic Dunfermline – Scotland’s Ancient Capital

It’s such a historic place but Dunfermline gets a bit of a hard time. You won’t find hordes of tourists visiting and usually only people with a personal connection will add this to their Scotland itinerary. The Kingdom of Fife is dotted with beautiful, little villages that have barely changed for hundreds of years but that’s not Dunfermline. This is a modern town, better known for its large housing estates and an Amazon depot. So why do I think it’s so great?

There are plenty of reasons to visit historic Dunfermline and you don’t need to comb the town to find them. Packed into the very centre, a short walk from the train station, you’ll find all the signs that this was once the Royal Capital of Scotland.

A Brief Early History of Dunfermline

There have been settlements around Dunfermline for thousands of years, but written records go back to the 11^th century. The name probably means Fort of the Crooked Water referring to the old castle that sat high above the gorge of Pittencrieff Glen. It was King Malcolm Canmore who made the town his royal centre before the idea of Scotland having a fixed capital city really existed.

Later monarchs preferred different towns with eventually Edinburgh taking over for good. That didn’t mean Dunfermline was ignored entirely. The last monarch to be born in Scotland was at Dunfermline Palace in 1600, the rather unfortunate Charles I. The town started to decline after the royal family moved down to London and in 1624 a fire destroyed most of the historic buildings.

Dunfermline Abbey

The most obvious reason for visiting Dunfermline is the Abbey. This fascinating building is actually two churches joined back to back, the old Medieval Abbey and a newer Parish Church still in use. It might not be as well known as other abbeys around the country, but this is the final resting place of at least a dozen Kings and Queens of Scots. It even has its own royal love story.

When an English-Hungarian Princess called Margaret landed on the shores of Fife by accident, it didn’t take long for King Malcolm to fall madly in love with her. The two were married at Dunfermline in 1070 and the new Queen marked the occasion by founding a much larger church here. This is where she chose to be buried in 1093 and eventually her remains would become a popular shrine.

Margaret’s youngest son King David I raised the profile of the church at Dunfermline to a fully-fledged Abbey and over the years her sons, their Queens and other monarchs would choose this royal centre as their final resting place. As with most Catholic Abbeys, the Scottish Reformation caused serious damage to Dunfermline Abbey. At least it has been restored to a good shape rather than left to ruin like many others.

The Abbey is run by Historic Scotland so you can visit and have a look around the interior. Be prepared for a real contrast inside. Firstly, the Medieval section is pretty much blank, just an enormous room with nice stained glass but very little information. The modern church on the other hand just looks almost like a regular Church of Scotland apart from one rather special difference.

King Robert the Bruce’s Tomb

If you didn’t notice the words around the top of the church – “KING ROBERT THE BRUCE” then you might also miss his burial inside. The King had been lost for years but during restoration works, a body was discovered amidst a crumbling tomb. It was the right size and age for Bruce and even the heart had been cut out, so the details all matched up. He was reburied under the floor of the new church but unfortunately not before people pilfered bits and pieces of the King’s bones.

Robert the Bruce’s burial at this particular Abbey is much more significant than you might think. Not just because of how historic Dunfermline was but because it underlined a niggling problem with the warrior King’s reign.

While Bruce had a very legitimate claim to the throne as a descendant of King David I, he had still taken it by force. Ever since he murdered John Comyn in Dumfries, he was desperate to ensure everybody saw him as a legitimate King. That meant his coronation had to be at Scone and the crown needed placed on his head by a MacDuff for tradition’s sake. When it came to his burial, he would have planned it in the same calculating way.

Bruce was particularly interested in Queen Margaret, leaving her chapel standing at Edinburgh Castle when the rest was destroyed. Not only was she Scotland’s only Royal Saint but he was her direct descendant. What better place to underline he was the rightful monarch than to be buried amongst Margaret, David and a host of other Scottish monarchs?

Dunfermline Palace

After Malcolm and Margaret had established Dunfermline as their power base, the town prospered from it. Cold, draughty castles weren’t the most enjoyable places to live though and so future Royals looked for a more comfortable life. Just like Holyrood in Edinburgh, monarchs preferred to spend the night at apartments inside the Abbey. Over time those apartments grew into Dunfermline Palace.

Dunfermline Palace was a welcome escape from crowded Edinburgh and often a stopover on the way to the more popular residence at Falkland. When James VI married Anne of Denmark, he rebuilt the rundown palace here and gifted it to his new Queen. She loved it and this is where the future King Charles I was born and initially raised.

Charles met a rather unfortunate end and if the following story is true then he never really had a chance. He was a sickly child and the sound of his crying often rang around the palace walls. One night, his father was trying to read when he was interrupted once again by the sound of crying. King James stormed towards the sound but was surprised to find it was his son’s nurse screaming rather than Charles himself.

After he calmed the nurse down, she said that a figure like an old man had crept inside. He threw his cloak around the cradle and started to drag it towards the door. That was the point she started screaming and the figure vanished into thin air!

James declared that he wished the baby had just been taken. Not only was he a sickly child but now “The Devil has cast his cloak over him”. Surely nothing good would come from his reign as King.

Devil or not, James was right and Charles I had a tumultuous reign both in Scotland and England. He faced religious strife, civil war and eventually lost his head to the blade of an executioner. Dunfermline Palace was only briefly used by Charles II and that was the building’s final chapter.

St Margaret’s Cave

The holiest of all Scotland’s Queens, Margaret fed orphans, washed the feet of pilgrims and even sponsored a ferry to help them travel to Dunfermline and on to St Andrews. If you’ve ever wondered about the name Queensferry then this is the lady to thank. It’s no surprise that she was canonised in 1250.

Like the hermit saints of old, Queen Margaret liked nothing more than praying in a little cave. It might be hard to imagine this historic part of Dunfermline 950 years ago but it would have been a leafy glen, just a short walk from the castle. When the council decided to build a car park right here, the locals were in uproar. The compromise came with this little entrance masking a deep tunnel that drops right down to St Margaret’s Cave.

Unfortunately, the cave has been closed due to Covid but hopefully it will reopen for next year!

Malcolm Canmore’s Tower

All that remains of Malcolm Canmore’s Tower and the very centre of historic Dunfermline is this pile of rubble.

Unfortunately, so much of the stonework has been removed that dating the castle is impossible. We do have some clues though. The tower is a short walk from the Abbey, at the top of a steep gorge high above the winding river. It’s the obvious place for King Malcolm to have built the castle that he and Margaret shared.

Malcolm was the first of the House of Dunkeld and one of Scotland’s most memorable Kings. Depending on your translation, Canmore means either Great Chief or Big Head but he is a slightly contentious figure.

As King he secured the country from relentless Viking pressure in the north and guided it through a dangerous time with William the Conqueror wreaking havoc down south. To reign for 35 years in a time like this was an impressive feat. On the other hand, his reign saw the start of a move away from some Gaelic traditions in the Scottish court. The Scots language started to take root in the Lowlands, separating it from Gaelic in the Highlands.

His marriage to Margaret and time he spent exiled in England as a youth no doubt had a large impact on Malcolm. It’s not quite as simple as that though. The wider European stage was changing and Scotland needed to secure its place there.

Pittencrieff Park

Once you’ve passed the ruins of the tower, you’re now into the leafy gorge of Pittencrieff Park. It’s a bit of a maze, filled with interesting little spots like a beautiful double bridge. Eventually, as you wind around you should stumble upon a sign for Wallace’s Well. There is a tradition, although without much to back it up, that William Wallace hid around Dunfermline after his loss at the Battle of Falkirk.

Wallace’s mother passed away and he wanted to bury her somewhere special. He knew that an obvious gravestone would be a target for his enemies. Instead, he buried her in Dunfermline Abbey grounds marking the spot with a thorn tree. It’s a local legend and that tree has had to be replaced but people still leave little mementos in honour of Wallace’s mum.

Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie has a rather interesting link to Pitencrieff Park. When this wee glen and Dunfermline Abbey were still part of a private estate, Carnegie’s grandfather Thomas Morrison campaigned for public access. The man who owned the grounds wasn’t happy about Morrison’s attempts. He was eventually persuaded by the courts to open the gates for a single day each year. The owner had one condition though.

Nobody related to Morrison was to be admitted. Eventually, when Carnegie was rich enough to buy Pitencrieff Park, he gifted it to the people of Dunfermline. Nobody would ever be excluded again.

Once the richest man in the world, Carnegie rose to the very top from humble beginnings. The cottage where he grew up is now run as the Andrew Carnegie Birthplace Museum. Importantly, it doesn’t just cover how much money the man made and the philanthropic acts he carried out in later life. The less attractive side is also explored, giving a balanced story. Such as how some of Carnegie’s employment practices impacted those at the bottom rung of the ladder.

I think Carnegie would be disappointed by how little attention Dunfermline receives today. But then you’ve read this far so hopefully that’s one more person convinced to visit.

If you’re planning on visiting Dunfermline then why not have a look at some other Hidden Sites in Fife?

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