Parts of Dysart’s history have been saved as part of a new housing project aiming to regenerate the area.
Having a taste for history himself, Steve Suggett, project manager for Muir Construction, has personally recreated a tron, or public weighing machine, after finding stones from the original structure during excavation works last year.
The firm is building new flats and affordable homes as part of the Dysart Regeneration Scheme and the recreated tron now stands in Fitzroy Square, at the rear of the High Street.
Mr Suggett, of Cardenden, said he had been “immediately curious” on finding the stones and delved a little deeper into where they came from. “I found out the tron, a weighing device a bit like a large set of scales, stood at the rear of 27 High Street in 1851,” he said.
“It belonged to Oswald Philip, who was a textile and wool merchant.
“He would have used it to weigh his goods but as it is close to the market cross it may have been used by other traders, a real centre point for the community.
“Weighing devices like this are really ancient, originally having been used by the Chinese centuries ago.
“I felt recreating the tron would provide a nice feature for the area, as the regeneration is about the future but also respecting the past. I took it on myself to recreate the tron at home using oak.
“Although it does not balance and is therefore not strictly a weighing device, I am really pleased with how it has turned out.”
Mr Suggett said he also found a stone wine flagon, marked “Charles Ramsay Grocer and Wine Merchant Dysart”, an old lemonade bottle and a beer bottle from Grubbs of Kirkcaldy.
“I’ve researched these items and know a bit about the pottery where the flagon was made. The items have sat in my garage but I am giving them to The Dysart Trust as they’re fascinating bits of local history.
“I am a member of Historic Scotland, who were involved in the regeneration project and I am sure they will also be interested.”
A plaque has been placed on the tron so locals can understand more about it.
Dysart Trust chairman Jim Swan congratulated Mr Suggett for his contribution to Dysart’s heritage and reckons the tron fits nicely into the surroundings.
“There are very few tangible relics left from the past, when Dysart was a prosperous Royal Burgh,” he said. “This will be a welcome addition to the local landscape.”