St Ayle's Chapel, Anstruther Easter

St Ayle's Chapel, Anstruther Easter

Anstruther Easter was part of the parish of Kilrenny until 1634, but by the later middle ages it was home to a growing fishing community. At some time in the late fourteenth or early fifteenth centuries, a chapel-at-ease was constructed to serve them. It was built on land belonging to the Abbey of Balmerino (where the Scottish Fisheries Museum now stands) and administered by the monks. In 1435 an indenture between Balmerino and the bishop of St Andrews, gave the monks the right to use the chapel to administer the sacraments to the local people. This meant that they would no longer have to travel to Kilrenny to baptise their children or get married, and the chaplain would have been able to administer the last rites. The chapel may have fallen out of use before the Reformation and after 1560 houses were built on the site. Some traces of the chapel could still be seen in the 1880s, and they were acquired and converted into the Scottish Fisheries Museum in the 1960s.

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tt27@st-andrews.ac.uk

Site

91

15/06/2021

(1) Stephanie Stevenson, Anstruther. A History (Edinburgh: John Donald, 2004, 1st Edition 1989), (2) William Turnbull, ed, Chartularies of Balmerino and Lindores (Edinburgh, Abbotsford Club, 1841), (3) Peter Klemen, Tom Turpie, Louise Turner and Thomas Rees, Historic Kilrenny, Anstruther Wester, Anstruther Easter and Cellardyke. Archaeology and Development (Glenrothes, Scottish Burgh Survey, 2017)

cm x cm x cm

current,56.22190580290868,-2.697232961436385;

St Ayle's Chapel, Anstruther Easter

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Building

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