St Serf’s Old Parish Church, Shore Road, Dysart

St Serf’s Old Parish Church, Shore Road, Dysart

The church of St Serf in Dysart first appears in the documentary record in the 1220s, although it is clear that it had existed long before then. In the fifteenth century, it was expanded into a large and impressive structure, including the eight-storey high tower. The striking tower has an unusual martial appearance, with shot holes in the two lowest storeys of the south side, and may well have been part of the coastal defences along northern shore of the Forth. The church and its high altar were dedicated to St Serf, and there were several further altars in the church dedicated to St James, Anne, Mary and Magnus. After the Reformation the congregation used only part of the nave of the medieval church, abandoning the aisles and the chancel. The south chancel aisle was separated from the rest of the church and became (or more likely continued as) the burial place of the Sinclair family. In 1802-03 the congregation moved to the newly built Barony Church, and St Serf’s was abandoned.

sacredlandscapesoffife

tt27@st-andrews.ac.uk

Site

101

18/06/2021

(1) Jim Swan & Carol McNeill, Dysart, A Royal Burgh (Dysart, 1997), (2) William Muir, ed, Notices of the Local Records of Dysart (Glasgow: Maitland Club 1853)

cm x cm x cm

current,56.124170254067536,-3.121429681559676;

St Serf’s Old Parish Church, Shore Road, Dysart

TEXT

Building

209

1

Catholic,Church of Scotland