City in Fife, Scotland
Dunfermline
Scotland's ancient capital buried a king, gave the world its richest philanthropist and waited until 2022 to become a city.
Key information
- County
- Fife
- Nation
- Scotland
- Known for
- Dunfermline Abbey, Robert the Bruce's burial place, Andrew Carnegie, linen damask
- What locals are called
- Fifers; football fans are the Pars
- Famous people
- Andrew Carnegie, Charles I, Queen Margaret, Robert the Bruce (buried here)
- Football clubs
- Dunfermline Athletic (East End Park)
About Dunfermline
The capital that became a city 900 years late
Dunfermline was a seat of Scottish kings long before Edinburgh took the role. In the 11th century Malcolm III kept court here, and his wife, the future St Margaret, made the place a centre of royal and religious life. For centuries it was a royal burgh with a palace, a great abbey and a reputation far bigger than its size. Yet it never held the official title of city. That changed in 2022, when Dunfermline was one of several places granted city status to mark Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee.
A king under the floor, a heart elsewhere
Dunfermline Abbey grew from the church Margaret founded in the 1070s and was raised to abbey status by her son David I in 1128. It became the burial place of Scottish royalty, with a string of kings and queens laid to rest here. The most famous is Robert the Bruce, who died in 1329. His heart was taken away and is now at Melrose Abbey, but his body was buried in Dunfermline. When workmen building a new parish church on the site in 1818 uncovered the tomb, the discovery caused a sensation. Today the church tower carries his name in giant stone letters around the top, readable from across town. The abbey's ruined palace sits alongside. Charles I was born there in 1600, one of only a few British monarchs born in Scotland.
The weaver's son who gave away a fortune
Andrew Carnegie was born in 1835 in a small weaver's cottage in Dunfermline. Linen damask, the patterned table linen woven on handlooms here, was the town's great trade until industrial change swept it away. His family emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1848, and Carnegie went on to build a steel empire in America. He never forgot home. Dunfermline's library, which opened in 1883, was the first of the Carnegie libraries, a scheme that eventually spread across the English-speaking world. In 1903 he gave the town Pittencrieff Park, the old estate of a grand house that had once felt out of reach for ordinary townspeople. It is now a public park, with glens, peacocks and a view of the abbey. The Carnegie Birthplace Museum tells his story beside the cottage where it began.
Why the football team are the Pars
Dunfermline Athletic are known as the Pars, and the club has had some famous days. Under a young manager named Jock Stein, later of Celtic, Dunfermline won the Scottish Cup in 1961 by beating Celtic in a replay. They won it again in 1968, beating Hearts 3-1. The cup brought European nights to East End Park, including a run to the semi-finals of the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1969. For a town of this size, that is a serious achievement. Fans still wear the black and white stripes with pride, and the club remains the heartbeat of the town on a Saturday.
Still the Auld Grey Toun
The nickname is an old one in Fife, and the stone buildings of the abbey, the palace ruins and the sloping streets down to the park fit it well. The medieval core still feels like a royal town, though modern Dunfermline has grown into a large commuter and business centre, helped by its position close to the Forth and Edinburgh. Nearby Rosyth, Culross and Falkland make good companions for a day out. But the best way to understand Dunfermline is to stand under the Bruce tower, then walk across Pittencrieff Park to where the weaver's son was born.