Caiplie Coves | |
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Location | Fife |
Coordinates | 56°14′36″N2°38′50″W / 56.243332°N 2.647271°W |
Translation | The word 'Cove' as used here means 'Cave'(Scots) |
The Caves of Caiplie, Caplawchy [1] or Caiplie Coves, known locally as The Coves, [2] are a cave system on the Fife Coastal path between Anstruther and Crail in Scotland. The caves were used by farmers to house livestock and as a doocot, around 170 CE. The caves are thought to have been abandoned since 180 CE. In the 9th century they were reputedly the site of early Christian worship. [1]
Chapel Cave is the largest cave in the system, it was described by David Hay Fleming in his book 'Guide to the East Neuk of Fife' as having "a lofty roof" while also noting that it "measures fully forty feet from its mouth to the pointed recess at the inner end." While the cave has been created naturally due to the waves eroding the stone, it has been made bigger by people. [3]
The word 'cove' in Scots means 'cave'. [4] The caves were all constructed by the sea eroding away the sandstone with a selection of the larger caves also being carved by the various groups of humans who have occupied the caves at various points in time.
The caves were first used for worship in the ninth century by Christians. In Chapel Cave there are a number of incised crosses which had been added at varying time periods. Holes had also been cut in pairs in the rock which is believed to have been used for passing ropes through. The floor of the cave was formerly clay and excavations in the nineteenth century recovered human remains beneath the floor. Harmit's Well is the easternmost of the Caves of Caiplie and it is named this because for several months just prior to World War II it was used by a hermit as his dwelling, the fixing points for his door and window can still be seen embedded in the natural sandstone walls. [5]
There are views from the caves of May Island, a nature reserve that can be travelled to by boat from Anstruther, and the Bass Rock. To the west of the caves are views to Kilrenny and Cellardyke and to the east is Crail, a small fishing village.[ citation needed ]
Fife is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire. By custom it is widely held to have been one of the major Pictish kingdoms, known as Fib, and is still commonly known as the Kingdom of Fife within Scotland. A person from Fife is known as a Fifer. In older documents the county was very occasionally known by the anglicisation Fifeshire.
The Firth of Forth is the estuary, or firth, of several Scottish rivers including the River Forth. It meets the North Sea with Fife to its north and Lothian to its south.
Crail is a former royal burgh, parish and community council area in the East Neuk of Fife, Scotland.
Pittenweem ( ) is a fishing village and civil parish in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 1,747.
Anstruther is a coastal town in Fife, Scotland, situated on the north-shore of the Firth of Forth and 9 mi (14 km) south-southeast of St Andrews. The town comprises two settlements, Anstruther Easter and Anstruther Wester, which are divided by a stream, the Dreel Burn. With a population of 3,500, it is the largest community on the Firth of Forth's north-shore coastline known as the East Neuk. To the east, it merges with the village of Cellardyke.
The Isle of May is located in the north of the outer Firth of Forth, approximately 8 km (5.0 mi) off the coast of mainland Scotland. It is about 1.5 kilometres long and 0.5 kilometres wide. The island is owned and managed by NatureScot as a national nature reserve. There are now no permanent residents, but the island was the site of St Adrian's Priory during the Middle Ages.
St Monans, sometimes spelt St Monance, is a village and parish in the East Neuk of Fife and is named after the legendary Saint Monan.
Elie and Earlsferry is a coastal town and former royal burgh in Fife, and parish, Scotland, situated within the East Neuk beside Chapel Ness on the north coast of the Firth of Forth, eight miles east of Leven. The burgh comprised the linked villages of Elie to the east and to the west Earlsferry, which were formally merged in 1930 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929. To the north is the village of Kilconquhar and Kilconquhar Loch.
A mercat cross is the Scots name for the market cross found frequently in Scottish cities, towns and villages where historically the right to hold a regular market or fair was granted by the monarch, a bishop or a baron. It therefore served a secular purpose as a symbol of authority, and was an indication of a burgh's relative prosperity. Historically, the term dates from the period before 1707, when the Kingdom of Scotland was an independent state, but it has been applied loosely to later structures built in the traditional architectural style of crosses or structures fulfilling the function of marking a settlement's focal point. Historical documents often refer simply to "the cross" of whichever town or village is mentioned. Today, there are around 126 known examples of extant crosses in Scotland, though the number rises if later imitations are added.
The Scottish Fisheries Museum is a museum in Anstruther, Fife, that records the history of the Scottish fishing industry and its people from earliest times to the present day.
The Waid Academy is a public secondary school in Anstruther, Fife. The school's catchment area extends to as far as Elie and Colinsburgh to the west and Crail to the east but accepts pupils from towns such as Leven, Upper Largo, Lundin Links, Kennoway and Markinch.
Cleeves Cove or Blair Cove is a solutional cave system on the Dusk Water in North Ayrshire, Scotland, close to the town of Dalry.
Boarhills is a hamlet close to Kingsbarns in the East Neuk of Fife, Scotland. It is located off the A917 road, 4+1⁄2 miles (7 km) from St Andrews and 5+1⁄2 miles (9 km) from Crail, close to the mouth of Kenly Water with the North Sea.
Kinkell was an estate to the east of St Andrews in Scotland. In the Middle Ages it was the site of a chapel, hospital, dovecote and a castle or manor house. The castle was an important location for conventicles in the period following the restoration of the House of Stuart. Little trace of the buildings remain, but the name is preserved in Kinkell Ness, Kinkell Braes, Kinkell Byre, Kinkell Farm and so on. The braes are now occupied by modern structures such as a caravan park, waste treatment plant, farm and golf course.
Dunton Cove or the Covenanters' Cave is an artificial cave in a craggy outcrop of rocks overlooking the Craufurdland Water just below the confluence of the Dunton Water and the Calf Fauld Water in East Ayrshire, Scotland, close to the village of Waterside. Traditionally it was used as a hiding place for Covenanters in the 17th century during 'The Killing Time' of the 1680s.
Peden's Cave is at least partly artificial and is set into a craggy outcrop of red sandstone rocks overlooking the River Lugar just below the farm of Auchinbay in East Ayrshire, Scotland, close to the town of Ochiltree. Traditionally it is said that this cave was used as a hiding place for Covenanters, including the famous Covenanter minister Alexander Peden in the 17th century, mainly during 'The Killing Time' of the 1680s.
Ethernan was a 7th century Scottish martyr and saint. The focus of his cultus was the Isle of May.
The early 13th century St Robert's Cave and Chapel of the Holy Cross, also known with variants such as St Robert's Chapel and Chapel of the Holy Rood, are located on Abbey Road beside the River Nidd in its gorge at Knaresborough. The cave is a rare example of a medieval hermitage, cut out of the magnesian limestone river gorge with a domestic area externally and the chapel of the Holy Cross which originally housed the saint's grave.
Bruce's Cave or the Dunskellie Grotto is a relatively small and mainly artificial cave created in the red sandstone cliffs about 9 metres above the Kirtle Water at Cove, Kirkpatrick-Fleming, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It has been associated with Robert the Bruce and the famous incident with the spider struggling to build its web.
Crail Parish Church is an ancient church building in Crail, Fife, Scotland. It is Category A listed, its oldest part dating to the 12th century. The walls and gravestones of its kirkyard are also Category A listed.