Caiplie Coves | |
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![]() Caiplie Coves | |
Location | Fife |
Coordinates | 56°14′36″N2°38′50″W / 56.243332°N 2.647271°W |
Discovery | The site was first used for Christian worship in the ninth century. [1] |
Translation | The word 'Cove' as used here means 'Cave'(Scots) |
The Caves of Caiplie, Caplawchy [2] or Caiplie Coves, known locally as The Coves [3] are a cave system on the Fife Coastal path between Anstruther and Crail in Scotland. The caves were the site of early Christian worship. After this they 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. [2]
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. [1]
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 to 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.
The Firth of Forth is the estuary (firth) of several Scottish rivers including the River Forth. It meets the North Sea with Fife on the north coast and Lothian on the south.
Crail ; Scottish Gaelic: Cathair Aile) 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 small coastal resort 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 a St Adrian's Priory during the Middle Ages.
Saint Fillan, Filan, Phillan, Fáelán or Faolán is the name of probably two Scottish saints, of Irish origin. The career of an historic individual lies behind at least one of these saints, but much of the tradition surrounding Fillan seems to be of a purely legendary character.
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 Act of 1929. To the north is the village of Kilconquhar and Kilconquhar Loch.
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. The Waid Academy school uniform consists of a black wool blazer, with red piping and a red and black tie, along with a school shirt and trousers/skirt, however any black jeans or other bottoms are accepted.
Cleeves Cove or Blair Cove is a solutional cave system on the Dusk Water in North Ayrshire, Scotland, close to the town of Dalry.
The Crail Golfing Society is a Scottish golf club established in February 1786 in the Golf Hotel, Crail, Fife. The society is the seventh oldest golf club in the world. Its oldest course, Balcomie, was formally laid out by Old Tom Morris in 1894, but competitions were played there since the 1850s.
Boarhills is a hamlet close to Kingsbarns on 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.
The Fife Coast Railway was a railway line running round the southern and eastern part of the county of Fife, in Scotland. It was built in stages by four railway companies:
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 so-called 'Killing Times' 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 so called 'Killing Times' of the 1680s.
Ethernan was a 7th century Scottish martyr and saint.
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.
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