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.

‘A phoenix rising from the ashes’: Design work to transform derelict mill at Silverburn Park complete

An artist's impression of how the Silverburn Park flax mill will look.
An artist's impression of how the new Silverburn Park visitor centre will look.

Design work to transform a derelict Fife flax mill into a visitor centre and community hub is now complete.

Project workers say the B-listed building at Silverburn Park in Leven will be like a “phoenix rising from the ashes” once multi-million pound building work begins.

The red brick property on the 27-acre estate once employed 200 people but has lain empty for years, with holes in the roof, boarded-up windows, disused livestock stalls and old farm machinery lying around.

How the exterior will look.

Now the building has been made watertight and windproof thanks to a community fundraising drive.

Images of the hub’s new design have also been finalised and released following funding from the National Lottery, Fife Council and the Architectural Heritage Fund.

The is truly a story of the phoenix rising from the ashes.”

Project director Brian Robertston.

It will open in 2025 and will include a restaurant, craft studios, a backpackers’ hostel and exhibition space.

Visitor numbers at the park have jumped five-fold since the first lockdown in March.

More than 200,000 people visited last year.

In addition, local people have raised more than £22,700 towards the transformation project.

A further £2.5 million is needed to unlock more than £7.5m in grants.

Also in the last year, Silverburn’s campsite reopened, the cafe was turned into a takeaway and volunteers maintained the walled garden and woodland trails.

‘Profits are up’

Silverburn flax mill project director Brian Robertson is excited to see the developments unfold.

The numbers are astounding.”

Brian Robertson.

“This is truly a story of the phoenix rising from the ashes,” he said.

“The day after lockdown in March the number of cyclists and walkers to the park increased five-fold and this year we have seen more than 200,000 people visit us.”

He said: “The numbers are astounding, as is the affection people have shown for the place.

“Profits are up at the Cottage Window Cafe, the glamping pods – when they were open – had a 64% occupancy and the campsite 34%.”

He added: “People came to the campsite from around Fife to decompress and unwind away from the stresses of the Covid-19 nightmare.”

Most of the work at the park is done by staff and volunteers of Fife Employment Access Trust.

Chief executive Duncan Mitchell said: “We are on track to deliver great things here at Silverburn but we need help to make it happen.

“This place can be even more amazing, we just need to keep the fundraising up.”