Houses of Interest: Fife
The first of rather a lot of Scottish entries to the now rather inappropriately named, ECW travelogue. Apologies to Scottish readers who steadfastly, and proudly hang on to traditional Scottish shire boundaries, for ease of writing I have gone with the nine Scottish regions established by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. (Yes I know those areas are now defunct, but it made sense at the time when I was planning the entries.) A brief entry, in comparison to those Scottish regions to come, but important nonetheless. The West Port of St Andrews was built in 1587 as a monumental entrance to the city’s South Street. It was less a defensive structure than it was a symbol of civic pride. Charles II visited St Andrews in 1650 and was presented with silver keys before the West port by the provost of St Andrews. A plaque marks the event, located inside one of the gateway's arches. Battle of Inverkeithing , 20th July 1651, saw an outnumbered New Model Army decimate a Sc...