Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Ancient Mercat Cross set to be uplifted as part of £3.6m investment for Fife town

Post Thumbnail

The relocation of a 600 year old Mercat Cross, thought to be one of Scotland’s oldest, is to be the focal point of a multi-million pound regeneration package set to promote Inverkiething’s ancient heritage.

The historic cross, is to be moved from its current Bank Street location to a more prominent position in the Market Square, as part of a £3.6m, five-year programme of improvements designed to boost tourism in the town.

The Grade-A listed monument’s main column and coats of arms are believed to date from 1398 with a unicorn finial carved by John Boyd of South Queensferry and added in 1688.

Improvements to roads and pathways, new seating, street furniture and heritage features will account for the £1.3m first phase of work around the Civic Centre and Market Square making the area more pedestrian and cycle friendly, whilst retaining the current number of car parking spaces through sensitive design.

The work, which has been funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Historic Environment Scotland and Fife Council, was due to be undertaken this summer but put back because of the coronavirus restrictions is now set to start in summer 2021 with the full scheme expected to be completed by March 2024.

The improvements have been warmly welcomed by Invkerkeithing SNP Councillor Councillor Alice McGarry who thinks the potential of town’s rich heritage and historical significance had been realised.

She said: “The funding will enable major streetscape uplift in the High street and the Market Square, whilst at the same time protecting and enhancing our built heritage.

“Like many towns today, Inverkeithing has had to contend with a range of negative market forces, like changing shopping habits, likely made worse by the covid-19 crisis.

“To be resilient the town needs to evolve and improve its offer to attract both locals and visitors

“The town’s heritage and history is underplayed, but given its location on the Fife Coastal Path and Pilgrims Way, proximity to the Forth Bridges and Edinburgh, and its major transport links, Inverkeithing has the potential for step change through heritage led regeneration, and these improvements can help that to happen.”

The public will be given the opportunity to have their say on the design concepts of the improvement scheme in June and July, once more detailed layouts have been drawn up, and COVID-19 restrictions have eased.