29 October 2025

The East Neuk of Fife Preservation Society has commissioned three panels retelling the tale about Pittenweem’s lost Priory. One of the panels is being positioned near the entrance gate to the parish church. There are lots of colourful illustrations recalling what the Priory might have looked like.

Around 700AD, St. Ethernan founded a monastery on the Isle of May. It suffered under Viking raids but around 1100AD, King David I established a new monastery on the island bringing Clunaic monks from Reading Abbey to nurture growth.

In the 1140s, monks on the Isle of May established a base in Pittenweem above St. Fillan’s Cave which is available as a tourist attraction. Storytelling takes place there during the Festival. The Priory developed and dominated the town until the Reformation in 1560.

As a consequence of the new religion in Scotland, much of the medieval priory was lost. It was divided into two by a high wall. On the south were the domestic buildings which are still in use. On the north, there was the choir and cloister.

These buildings were torn down. As much as two metres of earth was carted into this area transforming it into a burial ground around the newly built Parish Church. And so it has remained up until the present day where interest in these historic remains have been rekindled.

It's amazing that the Priory stood for over four centuries before being destroyed. Similarly, the kirk has stood for over four centuries before being scheduled for sale by the Presbytery of Fife. Perhaps half centuries bring major unforeseen changes. The more  interesting question is, 'What's next?'