Fife town hall celebrates heritage funding award

The grant from the Historic Environment Recovery Fund will fund internal adaptations and external repairs and maintenance to allow the building to fully open again once lockdown restrictions ease.

The past year has been difficult for the historic environment and tourism sectors, and Kinghorn Town Hall has had to close at times or operate at a reduced level in line with Scottish Government Covid-19 guidelines.

The town hall was built in 1826, designed by architect Thomas Hamilton as a town house and jail, complete with a council chamber, cells, a prisoners’ exercise yard and a guard house.

It is a landmark on the approach into the coastal town of Kinghorn, but lay derelict for over 25 years until it was restored by the Fife Historic Buildings Trust in 2009.

The magnificent building is now a unique three-bedroom self-catering apartment that sleeps six, welcoming visitors from around the world.

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The rooms are furnished in keeping with the history of the building but with all the modern amenities, and guests can enjoy the original historic features including a fascinating ‘secret’ spiral stone staircase.

Income from the property helps the Trust to continue delivering historic building restoration projects across Fife. There is also space for the Trust’s offices within the former guard house.

Christine May, chairman of Fife Historic Buildings Trust, said: “We are very grateful to Historic Environment Scotland for this generous grant, which we will match with funding from our own reserves. "This is an excellent opportunity to make some changes to the building and to carry out much needed repairs so that we are ready to welcome our guests again once the current restrictions end.

“This will ensure that this wonderful building is protected for many years to come.”

Alex Paterson, Chief Executive at HES, said: “We are pleased to support a diverse range of projects as part of the Historic Environment Recovery Fund. By helping to protect jobs, reopen historic sites and maintaining investment in traditional skills training and apprenticeships, we hope to support the wider recovery of the sector.”

Anyone wanting to book a stay for the summer season can visit: www.fifehistoricbuildings.org.uk

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