Doors Open Day: Leslie Heritage Group unveils Christ’s Kirk on the Green tours

On Saturday (September 14) and Sunday 15th, volunteers will be leading tours round the church grounds and graveyard and around the conservation area before arriving at Leslie Town Hall where people can see a photographic exhibition.

They will also talk about plans for an archaeological excavation of the site - the dig itself has been put back to summer 2025. It will now take place to co-incide with a visit from the Clan Leslie International Society.

The trust originally planned to start the work this month after Glenrothes area committee councillors supported the project with £8400 from the local community recovery fund.

The other half of the money will come from an external organisation.

The weather has meant that it would have bene too wet to dig on a number of days and still give them enough time to create a display for Doors Open Day, so they decided to move it to next June when it will start by digging a 5m metre wide trench on the north-east quadrant of the Christ’s Kirk Green. It is hoped that the dig will unveil some of the village’s ancient history and reveal more about Leslie’s local heritage.

The work could also help to uncover the footprint of an early medieval church that gave the area its name before it became Leslie - while the documents are not crystal clear, there is written evidence that supports religious settlement on the Greenside from at least the 10th century.

In agreeing to help fund the work, councillors were told that the process of planning the archaeological dig was “as crucial and beneficial to the community of Leslie as any results from the dig itself”.

Although there have been other archaeological digs in other parts of Fife, it’s the first one at Leslie, and Councillor John Beare (SNP for Glenrothes North, Leslie and Markinch) said.

“The last significant archaeological dig in this area was at Falkland Hill, and a huge amount of attention was generated by it.”

Leslie Heritage Group was formed in response to feedback from the local community which showed residents had a “strong sense of local heritage, and an interest in understanding more about local heritage.”

One of its main objectives has since been to“establish and better understand the early medieval foundations of the Town.

The Doors Open Day tours last around 45 minutes. starting 10:00am every hour until 2:00pm.