Inverkeithing Parish Church

Inverkeithing Parish Church
Forthview Parish Church - Inverkeithing
The West front of Inverkeithing Parish Church.
Inverkeithing Parish Church is located in Fife
Inverkeithing Parish Church
Inverkeithing Parish Church
Location in Fife
56°01′54″N 3°23′49″W / 56.03155°N 3.39689°W / 56.03155; -3.39689,
LocationChurch Street, Inverkeithing, Fife
CountryScotland
DenominationChurch of Scotland
Websitehttps://forthviewchurch.org.uk/inverkeithing/
History
StatusParish Church
Architecture
Functional status
Active
Heritage designation
Category B listed building
Designated11th December 1972
StyleGothic
Years built
14th Century, mostly rebuilt 1827
Listed Building – Category B
Official name
Church Street, Inverkeithing Parish Church (st Peter's Building; Church Of Scotland) Including Churchyard And Boundary Walls
Designated11 December 1972
Reference no.LB35086

Inverkeithing Parish Church of St Peters, also known as Forthview Parish Church Inverkeithing, is a category B listed church of the Church of Scotland, in the town of Inverkeithing, Fife.[1]

History

Dedication to St Erat outside Inverkeithing Parish Church.

Legend

Legend suggests St Erat, a follower of St Ninan, founded the first church here around the fifth century.

Medieval era

Reliable sources indicate the church was founded by Waltheof of Allerdale as a wooden Celtic church. Waltheof had inherited the lands of Inverkeithing from his father, Gospatric. The original wooden church was adapted into a Norman stone structure, which Waltheof bequeathed to the monks of Dunfermline Abbey in 1139.[2] The stone church was completed in 1244, and it was consecrated to St. Peter by Bishop David de Bernham on 24 August 1244.[3]

A great meeting of the Romish and Culdee clergy was held in Inverkeithing parish church in 1250 for the discussion of several ecclesiastical questions. According to Cunningham (1899), the Romish clergy "acted haightily, and overpowered and silenced the Culdees". This is said to be the last public meeting attended by the Culdees, who soon became an extinct body.[4]

The 14th century Lanercost Chronicle records that in 1282 the parish priest of Inverkeithing was accused of participating in pagan-inspired festivities and was subsequently killed by a local parishioner. The episode was cited by Margaret Murray in The God of the Witches (1931) to support her hypothesis of the survival of British paganism into the Middle Ages.[5]

The Norman foundations were reused for the 13th century Gothic structure, and a tower was added in the 14th century. In pre-Reformation times the church had altars to St. Michael, the Holy Blood, John the Baptist, St. Catherine, the Holy Rood, St. Laurence, St. Ninian and St. Mary. [2]

A choir had been in existence at the church in 1330; the vicar applied to Dunfermline Abbey for the funds to decorate and repair it.[6]

Inverkeithing was the host of the Convention of Royal Burghs between 1487 and 1552; the final convention was held in Inverkeithing Parish Church before Edinburgh became the host.[7]

The Reformation

During the Reformation riots of 1560, two friary convents in Inverkeithing were destroyed. From 1570 onwards, Inverkeithing parish church had a Presbyterian minister. The first was John Burne, who served until 1611.

In 1611, Inverkeithing Parish Church absorbed the adjacent parish of Rosyth.[7] By 1634, the church of Rosyth became ruinous, and so the union was formally decreed in 1636.[8][4]

In 1641, a new minister, Walter Bruce, was presented to the parish by Charles I. The Inverkeithing witch hunt took place under the church leadership of Bruce, and between 1621 and 1655 saw the executions of at least 51 people.[9]

In 1689, minister Robert Irvine was deprived of his charge for lack of support for William III and Queen Mary.[8]

The church became the focal point of the Inverkeithing Case of 1752, a significant dispute within the Church of Scotland surrounding the right of patronage. The dispute ended with the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland ordering the installation of Andrew Richardson as minister against the wishes of the congregation, and the deposition of Thomas Gillespie who was unwilling to follow orders. As a result, 127 members of the congregation left and formed St John's Church. The Inverkeithing case led directly to the Second Secession of the Church of Scotland with the founding of the Relief Church by Gillespie in 1761.

The fire of 1825 and rebuilding

Extensive fire damage in 1825 was caused by a spark from a brazier left unattended while pumbers working on the lead roof had lunch. This reduced the church to the height of its lower window sills, although the 14th century tower survived, but it was rebuilt.[10] The main part of the church is thus a large plain neo-Gothic 'preaching box' of 1826–27, designed by James Gillespie Graham. The total cost of rebuilding was £1400.[8]

Built of soft sandstone, the tower—the only remaining part of the pre-Reformation church—is weathered, and has been partially refaced. The tower is crowned by a lead-covered spire from 1835 designed by Thomas Bonnar, whose elaborate gabled dormers saw clock faces being added in 1883.[11][12][2]

Modern era

In 2024, Inverkeithing Parish Church of St Peters united with Aberdour St Fillan’s, Dalgety Parish Church, North Queensferry Parish Church and Rosyth Parish Church to form Fife: Forthview Parish Church of Scotland.[13]

Interior

The Sandstone font given to Inverkeithing Parish Church by Anabella Drummond in 1398.

The church's roomy interior—now deprived of its galleries—is graced by one of the finest medieval furnishings to survive in any Scottish parish church. This is the large and well-preserved sandstone font of around 1398, which was rediscovered in 1807 buried under the church along with the presumed relics of a saint, having been concealed at the Reformation.[8] Its octagonal bowl is decorated with angels holding heraldic shields. These include the royal arms of the King of Scots, and of Queen Anabella Drummond, the consort of King Robert III. The high quality of the carving is explained by it being a royal gift to the parish church, Inverkeithing being a favourite residence of Queen Anabella (1350 - 1401).[12][14][15]

Most of the interior visible today was designed by Peter MacGregor Chalmers and dates from 1900.[12]

Kirkyard

The church kirkyard contains the oldest gravestone in West Fife, dated 1606.[6] Most graves are otherwise from the 18th and 19th centuries.[1]

Inverkeithing's links to the sea are evident in the graveyard; ferryman James Scott, 'Master of Queensferry Passage' is in the kirkyard along with Dr John Smart Peddie (1816-1848), surgeon on the HMS Terror.[16]

Notable Ministers

Photographs

References

  1. 1 2 "Church Street, Inverkeithing Parish Church (St Peter's Building; Church of Scotland) Including Churchyard and Boundary Walls (LB35086)". portal.historicenvironment.scot. Archived from the original on 28 May 2025. Retrieved 17 August 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 Lamont-Brown, Raymond (2002). Fife in history and legend. Edinburgh: John Donald. ISBN 978-0-85976-567-1.
  3. ↑ "Doors Open Days | Inverkeithing Parish Church". www.doorsopendays.org.uk. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
  4. 1 2 Cunningham, S. (1899). Inverkeithing, North Queensferry, Limekilns, Charlestown & The Ferry Hills (1st ed.). Dunfermline: W. Clark & Son.
  5. ↑ Murray, Margaret (1931). The God of the Witches. London: Sampson Low, Marston and Co., Ltd.
  6. 1 2 Andrews, S. (1896, April 4). Visit of Edinburgh Architectural Association: Inverkeithing notes. The Dunfermline Journal.
  7. 1 2 Rev A. Robertson (1836). United Parishes of Inverkeithing and Rosyth. Web: https://stataccscot.ed.ac.uk/data/pdfs/account2/StAS.2.9.230.P.Fife.Inverkeithing.pdf
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Johnson, Rev. J. (1981). Inverkeithing past and present (1st ed.). Dunfermline: West Fife Educational Trust.
  9. ↑ "How a small Fife town became a '˜hotbed of witch-finding and punishing'". The Scotsman. 13 August 2018. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
  10. ↑ Bradley, Ian (2019). The Fife Pilgrim Way : In the Footsteps of Monks, Miners and Martyrs. Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited. ISBN 978-1-78027-592-5. OCLC 1090440150
  11. ↑ "Doors Open Days | Inverkeithing Parish Church". www.doorsopendays.org.uk. Retrieved 17 August 2025.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Gifford, John (2003). Fife. The Buildings of Scotland (1. publ ed.). New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-09673-6.
  13. ↑ "Fife: Forthview Inverkeithing". Forthview Church. 21 October 2025. Retrieved 21 October 2025.
  14. ↑ "History of the Stewarts | Famous Stewarts | Annabella Drummond". www.stewartsociety.org. Retrieved 17 August 2025.
  15. ↑ Bradley, Ian (2019). The Fife Pilgrim Way : In the Footsteps of Monks, Miners and Martyrs. Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited. ISBN 978-1-78027-592-5. OCLC 1090440150
  16. ↑ Historic Environment Scotland information board (2025), Fife Council, [located outside St Peter's Church].
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