Glenrothes

Coordinates: 56°14′N 3°08′W / 56.23°N 3.13°W / 56.23; -03.13

Glenrothes
Scottish Gaelic: Gleann Rathais
The River Leven Bridge soars over Riverside Park
Glenrothes  Glenrothes shown within Scotland
Area	8.6 sq mi (22 km2)
Population	38,927 [1]
- Density	4,526 /sq mi (1,747 /km2)
OS grid reference	NO2702
- Edinburgh	32 miles
- London	444 miles
Council area	Fife
Lieutenancy area	Fife
Country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	GLENROTHES
Postcode district	KY6-KY7
Dialling code	01592
Police	Fife
Fire	Fife
Ambulance	Scottish
EU Parliament	Scotland
UK Parliament	Glenrothes
Scottish Parliament	Central Fife Mid Scotland and Fife
List of places: UK • Scotland •

Glenrothes is a former new town situated in the heart of Fife, in east central Scotland. It is located approximately equidistant between the cities of Edinburgh (32 miles (51 km)) and Dundee (27 miles (43 km)).

Glenrothes is the administrative capital of Fife containing both the Fife Council and Fife Constabulary headquarters. It is also home to several large-scale modern electronics companies establishing it as a major hub in Scotland's Silicon Glen. Glenrothes is unique in Fife as the majority of the town's centre is contained indoors, within Fife's largest indoor shopping centre - The Kingdom Shopping Centre.

According to the recent population estimate (2006), Glenrothes is Fife's third largest town with a population of 38,927. The Glenrothes conurbation, which includes the surrounding villages of Leslie, Markinch, Thornton and Coaltown of Balgonie has a population of 47,359.

The town has parks and landscaping recognised at the National level as being outstanding with Glenrothes winning multiple awards in the "Beautiful Scotland" contest.^[2] Another feature is the plethora of outdoor sculptures and artworks; a result of the appointment of town artists in the early development of the town. Careful planning has also ensured a variety of public facilities such as religious and educational institutions are provided in Glenrothes. The town is also well linked with the main Scottish transport network.

History

Background

Housing at Woodside, built pre-Glenrothes

Glenrothes was designated in 1948 under the New Towns (Scotland) Act 1946 as Scotland's second post-war new town.^[3][4] The name Rothes comes from the association with the north-east Scotland Earl of Rothes, family name Leslie. The Leslie family owned much of the land historically. Glen (Scottish for valley) was added to prevent confusion with Rothes in Moray, and because the town lies on the Leven valley.^[5][6][7][8]

The original town plan was to build a new settlement for a population of 32,000-35,000 people. The intention of the new town for the developers was: "to establish a self-contained and balanced community for working and living".^[9] The land where Glenrothes now sits was largely agricultural and once contained a number of small rural communities. Originally the new town was going to be centred on Markinch, however the village's infrastructure was deemed unable to withstand the substantial growth required to realise a new town.^[5] Leslie and Thornton were also considered but as a consequence an area of 5,320 acres (2,229 hectares) that sits between all of these villages was chosen.^[10] The land taken was previously an area of great natural beauty. The land ownerships of the Balfour, Rothes, Aytoun and Balgonie estates were all incorporated in the Glenrothes designated area along with the historical stately homes, Balbirnie House, Leslie House and Balgeddie House.^[11][12][13] The planning, development, management and promotion of Glenrothes was the responsibility of the Glenrothes Development Corporation (GDC), a quango appointed by the Secretary of State for Scotland.^[14] The corporation board consisted of eight members including a chairman and deputy chairman.^[15] The first meeting of the GDC was in Auchmuty House, provided by Tullis Russell on 20 June 1949.^[16][17] The designated area was sub-divided into areas or "precincts" which were named after the hamlets already established (e.g. Woodside, Cadham), the farms which once occupied the land (e.g. Rimbleton, Caskieberran, Collydean) or historical stately homes in the area (e.g. Balgeddie, Balbirnie, Leslie Parks).^[18]

Cadham Village conservation area, built pre-Glenrothes

The primary reason for the designation of Glenrothes was to house miners who where to work at a new super coal mine.^[19] This was to be the most modern of the day and was built west of Thornton, an established village south of Glenrothes. The Super Pit was named the Rothes Colliery and it was officially opened by the Queen in 1957. About 5,000 miners were to be required to produce 5,000 tonnes of coal per day, and huge railway yards were established.^[20] The pit was to have a working life of 100 years. The planned long-term benefits were to be huge, and the driver for economic regeneration for central Fife. At its peak the Rothes Colliery employed over 1,500 miners. In 1961, 4 years after opening, the huge investment was written off and the mine closed as a result of un-stemmable flooding and geological problems. Ironically, miners who'd worked in older deep pits in the area had fore-warned against the development of the Rothes Pit for this very reason.^[21] The closure of the state-of-the art facility left the huge enclosed concrete wheel-towers standing at Thornton for many years as a forlorn symbol of what could have been until demolished in the early 1990s.^[11][12]

Originally the main industries in the Glenrothes area were paper-making (Tullis-Russell and the other mills along the Leven Valley), coal mining and farming. Unlike East Kilbride, Cumbernauld or Livingston Glenrothes was not originally to be a Glasgow overspill new town, although it did later take this role. It was however populated in the early 1950s in part by mining families moving from the West of Scotland and the declining Lothian coalfield areas.^[11][21]

The pit's closure was devastating and further development of Glenrothes was almost stopped. The pit's closure did help change the fortunes of the town for the better. Central Government changed the town's role and appointed Glenrothes as one of the economic focal points for Central Scotland. The Glenrothes Development Corporation were successful in attracting a plethora of modern electronics factories to the town. The first big overseas electronic investor was Beckmans Instruments in 1959 followed by Hughes Industries in the early 1960s.^[21] A number of other important companies followed establishing Glenrothes as a major hub in Scotland's Silicon Glen.^[11][21][22] Following the dot-com crash of the late 1990s/early 2000s Glenrothes lost two of its largest electronics plants, Canon and ADC both located at Bankhead. These have since been replaced by other high profile companies.^[23]

A further boost to the town during the 1970s saw it become the centre of Fife Council's operations. This took the role from Cupar which was formally the County Town of Fife. Fife House (the headquarters of Fife Council) and other Fife Council buildings are situated in Glenrothes' town centre.^[24] Fife Constabulary also have their headquarters in the town. Today Glenrothes is the administrative centre for Fife.^[12][25]

Today

St Paul's RC Church

Glenrothes is today considered a clean, generally well maintained and quietly successful modern town.^[26][27] While much of the townscape consists of unexceptional 20th century developments, Glenrothes has many surprises. Early residential areas of Glenrothes present some of the best examples of post war social housing, two of which won Saltire Society Awards. The town also boasts a large mix of good quality private housing.^[28] Three of the towns earliest churches, St. Margaret's, St. Paul's and St. Columba's, are now listed buildings.^[11][12][29]

Glenrothes was the first Scottish new town to appoint a town artist in 1968.^[30] Today, as a result, there is a large variety of artworks and sculptures scattered throughout the town (around 132) made from a variety of materials such as bronze, fibre glass, bricks, sandstone and concrete. The sculptures range from giant flowers, giant hands, a dinosaur, toadstools, the Good Samaritan, a horse & chariot, dancing children, a seated old couple, crocodiles and marching Hippos.

Marching Hippos and paddling pool, Riverside Park

Landscaping in Glenrothes often leaves the impression that many of the housing areas have been built in parkland. The town has won awards for the Best Kept Large Town and the most Clean, sustainable and beautiful community in Scotland in the Beautiful Scotland competition ^[31] and most recently a Silver Gilt award in the 2009 Britain in Bloom competition.^[32] The town has also won the award for the Best Kept Town & Village Competition in Fife on a number of occasions as a result of the high standards of landscaping.^[33]

At the opposite end of the scale Glenrothes has also won the Carbuncle Award, an unofficial contest operated by Prospect Magazine and Architecture Scotland criticising the quality of built environments in Scotland. Glenrothes town centre was awarded the category of the most dismal place in Scotland in 2009 after a vote by the Scottish general public.^[34]

Riverside Park, view from Glenrothes town centre

Housing has generally been built to high standards, especially when compared to other developments built at the same time in other parts of Scotland. Glenrothes is undoubtably modern and as a result has come under much criticism for its architecture and built environment.^[35][36][37] Old buildings in the town have been carefully integrated into the modern fabric of the town. Despite this criticism the town has been described as leaving the impression of pleasant modernity.^[38]

Glenrothes serves a wider area as both a service, employment and retail centre. There are a number of attractive villages surrounding the town each unique in their own respect. The surrounding villages are Markinch, Leslie, Thornton, Coaltown of Balgonie, Star of Markinch, Milton of Balgonie (with Balgonie Castle) and Kinglassie. Slightly further afield are Falkland, Freuchie, Windygates, Kennoway, Muirhead, Auchmuirbridge and Scotlandwell.

Geography

Glenrothes lies in mid-Fife between the agricultural Howe of Fife in the north and east and Fife's industrial heartland in the south and west. It is located almost equidistant between the cities of Edinburgh (32 miles (51 km)) and Dundee (27 miles (43 km)). Its OS Grid reference is NO281015.

Destinations from Glenrothes

	Perth	Dundee	St. Andrews
	Kinross		Leven
		Glenrothes
	Dunfermline	Kirkcaldy	Firth of Forth

The northern parts of the town lie upland on the southern fringes of the Lomond Hills Regional Park. The central parts of the town lie on land between the southern lip of the River Leven Valley, a green lung which passes east west through the town, and the Warout Ridge. Southern parts of Glenrothes are largely industrial and lie on land which gently slopes south towards the Lochty Burn and the village of Thornton.^[26] The height above mean sea level at the town centre is 300 feet.^[39] Temperatures in Glenrothes, like the rest of Scotland, are relatively moderate given its northern latitude. Fife is a peninsula, located between the Firth of Tay in the north, the Firth of Forth in the south and the North Sea in the east. Summers are relatively cool and the warming of the water over the summer results in warm winters. Average annual temperatures in Glenrothes range from a max of 18°C to a min of 9°C.^[40]

Glenrothes seen from East Lomond (Falkland) Hill.

Built environment

1950's housing, Woodside

Glenrothes' layout was based on an irregular grid. The first town masterplan set out self-contained residential precincts with their own primary schools, local shops and community facilities.^[41] Separating industry as far as possible from housing areas in planned industrial estates was a key element of the plan.^[42] This was a step change from the unplanned and polluted industrial towns and cities of the previous centuries where cramped housing and dirty industry were built in close proximity to one another. The idea for Glenrothes was to provide a clean, healthy and safe environment for the town's residents.^[41] "Through traffic" would bypass housing precincts by distributor roads which would connect each precinct to a purposely designed town centre and to the industrial estates.^[43] Another element that was adopted was the use of roundabouts at junctions instead of traffic lights allowing traffic to flow freely.^[11][12]

At first Glenrothes developed in a linear fashion starting at Woodside in the east and progressing westwards. Housing was a mixture of low-rise mixed housing and flats. A private estate was developed at Alburne Park for GDC managers.^[44] The first masterplan was implemented as far as South Parks and Rimbleton housing precincts.^[21][45]

Early Glenrothes precincts, developed under the first masterplan, were based on Ebenezer Howard's Garden City principles and this is reflected in their housing styles and layouts.^[14][21]

1970's housing, Collydean

A second town masterplan was developed in the late 1960s following Glenrothes' change of role and was to accommodate an increased population target of 50,000-70,000. New areas of land in the north and south of the designated area were brought into production for new development.^[46] The irregular grid layout was retained however housing precincts were to become less self-contained and would share local facilities in a new neighbourhood centre format.^[47] The road network was to be upgraded to deal with projected increases in car ownership. New housing estates were developed to the west from Macedonia to Newcastle, to the south from Pitteuchar to Stenton and then to the north from Cadham to Collydean and Balfarg.^[48] The precincts of the 1960s and 70's, developed under the second masterplan, were based on principles of Radburn, separating as far as possible footpaths from roads.^[49] The townscape changed with a mixture of higher densities and more contemporary architectural styles. The fronts of houses were designed to face onto public footpaths and open spaces with car parking kept either to the rear of properties or in parking bays located nearby.^[11]

Housing precincts from the 1980s onwards have largely been developed by the private sector and more reflect today's aspirations of low density suburban living.^[26] The majority of this housing was developed as suburbs in the northern parts of the town at Balgeddie, Formonthills, Balfarg, Coul and Pitcairn, to the south at Finglassie, to the east at Prestonhall and Balbirnie and to the west at Whinnyknowe.^[26]

Modern suburban housing, Balgeddie

Large portions of land in the south of the town were developed for industrial purposes, largely as a result of the proximity to the proposed East Fife Regional Road (A92) which was developed in 1989 giving dual carriageway access to the main central Scotland road network. The second master plan was used until the wind-up of the Development Corporation in 1995.^[11][12]

Glenrothes came late into high rise development and as a result it has only a single tower block, which is located adjacent to other tall buildings in the town centre.Three others were earmarked for the east of Pitteuchar backing onto the A92, but due to emerging problems associated with high rise blocks these were never built. The townscape is largely low rise until the town centre is reached where flats and clusters of taller buildings have been used.^[49]

Demographics

Scotland's Census 2001 showed that Glenrothes has a population of 38,679. Recent population estimates show the population of Glenrothes in 2006 to be 38,927 showing a marginal increase compared with the 2001 census figure. The Glenrothes conurbation, which includes adjacent villages supports an estimated 47,359 people. The wider Glenrothes Area including the nearby villages of Star, Kinglassie and Milton of Balgonie supports an estimated population of 50,167.^[1] The town also falls under the wider Mid-Fife Local Plan area which includes Kirkcaldy, Levenmouth, Cowdenbeath and Lochgelly having an overall total population of 180,220.

The demographic make-up of the population is much in line with the rest of Scotland, with 30-44 year olds forming the largest portion of the population (23%). Despite the aging population in Scotland, Glenrothes has 2% fewer pensioners than the Scottish average.^[50] Over 29% of the population in Glenrothes are in lower managerial and professional occupations which is a substantially higher proportion of people than both the Fife and Scottish averages.^[51]

Governance

Fife House, headquarters of Fife Council

The designation of the new town of Glenrothes in June 1948, under the New Towns (Scotland) Act 1946, led to the secretary of state for Scotland appointing a development corporation.^[15] The Glenrothes Development Corporation (GDC) set up as a "body corporate" to "secure the layout and development" of the new town of Glenrothes on 2,320 hectares of land from the lower slopes of East Lomond across the valley of the River Leven to north of Thornton.^[3][15] The GDC with input from Fife County Council oversaw the governance of the new town until the wind up of the GDC in 1995 leaving a lasting legacy on the town by overseeing the development of 15,378 houses, 480,692 square metres of industrial floorspace, 68,328 square metres of office floorspace and 53,603 square metres of shopping floorspace.^[3]

Glenrothes now lies within one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. The town is the location of the headquarters of Fife Council. Council meetings take place in Fife House (formerly known as Glenrothes House) in the town centre. The west wing of the building was built by the Glenrothes Development Corporation (GDC) as their offices in 1969, which was later used as the headquarters of Fife Regional Council.^[52] Since the last Scottish election in 2007, the council is jointly run by a Scottish National Party/Liberal Democrats coalition with 44 seats together.The councillor, Peter Grant was elected as leader of Fife Council.^[53]

Glenrothes is within the Central Fife (Scottish Parliament constituency), the Mid Scotland and Fife (Scottish Parliament electoral region) of the Scottish Parliament (at Holyrood) and the Glenrothes (UK Parliament constituency) (at Westminster). The Central Fife Scottish Parliament (or Holyrood) constituency created in 1999 is one of nine within the Mid Scotland and Fife electoral region. Each constituency elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post system of election, and the region elects seven additional members to produce a form of proportional representation. The seat has been held by Tricia Marwick for the SNP since 2007.^[54] The Glenrothes UK (or Westminster) constituency, created in 2005 when the previous seat Central Fife was abolished, elects a Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom by the first past the post system. The seat was won by Lindsay Roy for Labour in the 2008 Glenrothes by-election following the death of the sitting MP John MacDougall.^[55]

Economy

Fife Constabulary HQ, Viewfield

Glenrothes' economy is largely reliant on light industry and local government jobs with moderate instances of construction, commercial office, retail and other service sector employment. Unemployment levels are approximately in line with the Scottish average. Glenrothes provides the highest number of jobs (approx 36,000) of any single settlement in Fife.^[56] This situation is particularly evident when compared to the more deprived towns in the travel to work area, Kirkcaldy and Levenmouth.^[57][58] Employment in Glenrothes is largely concentrated in the town centre and in the industrial estates.

Fife's prominent local authority headquarters building is located at North Street in the town centre. Many of the other council departments are contained in a number of the town centre's office blocks. Fife Constabulary have established their modern headquarters at a site on Detroit Road in Viewfield. HM Revenue and Customs has a local office at Pentland Park, a business park within the town. These offices account for the higher than average proportion of public administration jobs within the town.^[23]

Town centre and shopping

Kingdom Shopping Centre

Glenrothes town centre is located on the southern edge of the River Leven Valley. It is bounded by a ring road, has been purposely planned, contains no residential element and is largely enclosed. These are all factors which distinguish it from Fife's other town centres.

The Kingdom Centre forms the main shopping element of the town centre. The shopping mall currently contains over 100 shops as well as a variety of cafes, the town's central library, the Rothes Halls- the town's theatre, civic and exhibition centre and a ten pin bowling alley. The town's main bus station is located adjacent to the southeast end of the mall.^[59] A new extension to the current shopping centre will see a supermarket, a parade of new shop units and a multi-storey car park being built on North Street in the near future.^[60] Proposals have also been put forward to regenerate older parts of the centre at Albany Gate.^[61] A new shopping park is being built to the north of the town centre, anchored by another new supermarket.^[62]

Woodside Neighbourhood Centre

Glenrothes has a number of neighbourhood shopping centres located at strategic points throughout the town. These contain parades of small shops and a variety of public facilities. The first of these to be built was the Woodside Centre. The Glenwood Centre, the Glamis Centre and the Cadham Centre followed as the town developed. A retail park has also been constructed at the Saltire Centre which contains a number of warehouse store retailers.^[14][21]

Industry

Glenrothes employment premises are largely modern and are located in a number of attractive, well landscaped industrial and employment sites, all of which are well connected with the Central Scotland road network. The entrance to each estate is clearly defined with the use of obelisk boundary markers.^[26]

Employment sites in Glenrothes are concentrated in the south of the town and at sites around the town centre. Each estate has been named, these are: Bankhead, Westwood Park, Eastfield, Pentland Park, Queensway, Southfield, Viewfield and Whitehill. These estates are largely managed by Fife Council and Scottish Enterprise.^[11][12][26]

Amazon.co.uk Warehouse, Bankhead, Glenrothes

The highest proportion of jobs in Glenrothes are in the manufacturing and the public administration sectors. Traditional industries are still existent in the area, with paper manufacturing being one of the town's largest employers. The Tullis Russell plant is the last operational paper manufacturer in Glenrothes following the closure of two smaller plants in the area. The plant is currently in the process of selling its surrounding land to developers in order to fund a biomass powerstation.

Manufacturing accounts for around 20% of employment in Glenrothes.^[56][63] A number of high tech industrial companies are located in Glenrothes largely specialised in electronics and engineering manufacturing.^[26]

Glenrothes has historically been successful in attracting a high number of specialist high-technology firms. A number of, at the time, innovative new technologies were first manufactered in the town. Hughes Industries, an early pioneer company to establish in Glenrothes, developed guidance systems for the Apollo 11 spacecraft and Rodime, a company established in 1979, pioneered advances in hard drive and floppy disk technology ^[23] Pico Electronics Ltd pioneered an early microprocessor from its Glenrothes facility.^[64]

Micronas, Southfield, Glenrothes

Semefab, a company based in Eastfield, is the UK's Primary Centre for the development of Micro Electric Mechanical Systems (MEMS) and Nanotechnology.^[65][66]

Raytheon, are global leaders in the hi-tech and defence markets with particular projects seeing the company's Queensway branch supply products to the aerospace and telecommunications industries.

Other major companies in Glenrothes include Brand Rex (fibre optics manufacturing), Velux (roof windows manufacturing), BI Technologies (electronics manufacturing), Compugraphics (photomask development), Regenersis (technology repair services), Bosch Rexroth (hydraulics manufacturing), FLEXcon (pressure-sensitive film manufacturing), Precision (precision engineering), Micronas (semi-conductor manufacturing), Virgin Media (call centre), Cullen Building Products (construction suppliers), and Amazon.co.uk (online retailer).^[67]

There are signs now however that the town's economy is beginning to diversify to service sector and other forms of employment in line with national trends. This is evident with new office developments at Viewfield and Pentland Park and the mix of uses emerging at Queensway and Bankhead.

Culture

Rothes Halls, Kingdom Centre

The Rothes Halls complex acts as the civic heart of Glenrothes. It is located in the Kingdom Centre and is used as the town's theatre and its exhibition, conference and civic centre. The flexible nature of the complex means it can cater for a large variety of regional and local events and performances including plays, award cermonies, an annual beer festival, tribute bands and model railway exhibitions. The Stereophonics, Ocean Colour Scene, and Ken Dodd are among some of the well-known acts to have performed there. The town's central library and a cafe also form part of the Rothes Halls complex.^[68]

There are a number of social clubs and organisations operating within Glenrothes which contribute to the cultural and community offerings of the town. These include an art club, various youth clubs, a floral art club, a local theatre company, a choral society and a variety of sports clubs.^[69]

Glenrothes has a number of well maintained parks at Riverside, Balbirnie, Warout, Gilvenbank, Tanshall, Dovecot, Carleton and Stenton. Around one third of land in Glenrothes has been devoted to the provision of open space.^[11][12] The town boasts good sports facilities with two 18-hole golf courses (Glenrothes and Balbirnie), a football stadium at Warout and a main sports complex at the Fife Institute (FIPRE).

Fife Institute of Physical & Recreational Education (FIPRE)

^[11]

^[12][70] The local football club is the Glenrothes F.C., a junior side who play at Warout Park. Glenrothes also has a rugby club based at Carleton Park and a cricket club who play at Riverside Park.^[71][72] There are plans to build a new multi-million pound sports centre on the site of the existing Fife Institute beginning in early 2010.^[73][74]

Landmarks & notable buildings

Giant Irises, Leslie Roundabout

Landmarks and notable buildings in Glenrothes vary from tall buildings and bridges to hills, sculptures, churches and henges. The most prominent landmarks in the town include the River Leven Bridge which towers over Riverside Park, the Tullis Russell factory chimneys towering in the east of the town and Raeburn Heights and Fife House which both sit at the western corners of the town centre. These are the most recognisable tall structures in Glenrothes which can be seen from afar.^[11][12][75]

The Lomond Hills form a natural backdrop to the town when looking north and can be seen from as far away as Edinburgh and the Lothians in the south, and Tayside in the north.

Glenrothes is home to the remains of ancient stone circles which can be seen at Balbirnie and Balfarg in the northeast of the town. A number of Glenrothes' artworks and sculptures act as landmarks at major gateways into the town, such as the Giant Irises at Leslie Roundabout, and the Glenrothes Gateway Totum at Bankhead Roundabout.^[11][12][26]

Balbirnie House Hotel, Balbirnie Park

Balbirnie House, the category-A listed Georgian former home of the Balfour family, was bought along with its grounds in 1969 by the Glenrothes Development Corporation (GDC) from the Balfour family to be developed as Balbirnie Park and golf course.^[76][77][78] The house was later occupied and restored by the GDC in 1981, to stop the property falling into disrepair. This led to potential interest and the house was converted into a four-star hotel in 1989. The former stable blocks of the house were also converted for use as a craft centre.^[78] Balgeddie House, a former Victorian residence located in the northwest of the town, has also been converted into a high quality hotel.^[11][12]

Leslie House, the category-A listed 15th Century former home of the Rothes family, became an eventide home owned by the Church of Scotland and most recently is set to become luxury apartments. Unfortunately a fire destroyed most of the house late 2008 ^[79] Much of the former grounds of Leslie House have been used to create Riverside Park. Collydean precinct hosts a ruin of a 17th-century laird's house called Pitcairn House.^[11][12]

St. Columba's Church, Glenrothes town centre

The town is also home to a number of churches which act as important landmarks as a result of their unique architectural styles and sometimes their locations at key road junctions. The three earliest churches are now listed buildings. These are St. Margaret's Church in Woodside (category C listed), St. Paul's RC Church in Auchmuty (category B listed), and St. Columba's Church on Church Street (category A listed) in the town centre.^[11][12] St. Paul's RC was designed by architects Gillespie, Kidd and Coia and has been described as "as the most significant piece of modern church architecture north of the English Channel".^[80] In 1993 it was listed as one of sixty key monuments of post-war architecture by the international conservation organisation DoCoMoMo. The church sits at a junction between two main distributor roads. St Columba's Church, designed by architects Wheeler & Sproson, has recently undergone significant restoration.^[81] The church with its distinctive triangular iron bell tower and Mondrian inspired stain glass windows acts as a landmark at the south-western gateway to the town centre. The Golden Acorn Hotel is a prominent landmark at the southeast gateway to the town centre.

There are two other gateway landmarks, located just outside Glenrothes. The B-listed Markinch Railway Viaduct marks the town gateway from Levenmouth in the east. This structure spans the River Leven Valley carrying the main East Coast rail line.^[11][82]

To the west of Glenrothes is the B-listed Cabbagehall Railway Viaduct, which once carried a branch line connecting Leslie to Markinch over the River Leven Valley. This marks a main gateway entrance to Glenrothes from Leslie and now carries a major cycle/footpath, Böblingen Way, connecting Leslie with Glenrothes.^[12][77][83]

Education

Glenrothes High School

The town is home to 13 primary schools and 3 secondary schools. Early precincts are served by their own primary schools and the first of these to be built was Carleton Primary School in Woodside.^[84] Warout Primary School was built in Auchmuty and as development of the town progressed west Rimbleton Primary School, South Parks Primary School, Southwood Primary School in Macedonia, Caskieberran Primary School, Tanshall Primary School and Newcastle Primary School were built to serve the central, and western precincts.^[84] As development progressed south Pitteuchar East Primary School and later Pitteuchar West Primary School were built to serve the southern precincts. Pitcoudie Primary School and Collydean Primary School were built to serve the northern precincts. St. Pauls Primary School in Rimbleton was built to serve catholic pupils in Glenrothes.^[11][12][70] The John Fergus School, adjacent to Warout Primary, serves children with learning difficulties.

The earliest of the three secondary schools is Auchmuty High School which was opened in 1957 as a junior secondary. This was followed by Glenwood High School in 1962 to serve the western precincts also as a junior secondary. To continue "Higher" examinations, older pupils had to attend high schools in neighbouring towns.^[85] Glenrothes High School was the first secondary to be built in 1966 to accommodate pupils at a "Higher" level. Both, Auchmuty and Glenwood were raised and extended to full high school status in the 1970s.^[86][87] The Scottish Government and Fife Council have announced that a new Auchmuty High School is to be constructed by 2011^[88]. Catholic pupils in Glenrothes are served by St Andrew's High School in Kirkcaldy.

Adam Smith College, Scotland's third largest college have two campuses in the town. Stenton campus is located adjacent to the Fife Institute of Physical and Recreational Education (FIPRE) approximately half a mile to the south of the town centre. There is also a smaller campus located at Southfield Industrial Estate approximately one mile southwest of the main campus. The strengths of the college are in the creative arts and industries, applied technologies and media. The Glenrothes Stenton campus is currently being extended which will double the number of attending students and staff.^[89][90][91] St.Andrews, Scotland's oldest university, is within 30 minutes drive of the town. Glenrothes is also within commuting distance of the universities in Dundee, Edinburgh and Stirling.

Transport

Glenrothes Bus Station

Glenrothes has direct dual-carriageway access to the M90 via the A92 Trunk Road. The A92 passes north/south through the town and connects Glenrothes with Dundee in the north and Edinburgh in the south.^[11][12][82] The A911 road passes east/west through the town and connects it with Levenmouth in the east and Milnathort and the M90 in the west.^[82]

The main bus station, adjacent to the town's Kingdom Centre, was designed and constructed by Fife Council in the early 90s, replacing a smaller, less prominent building.^[92] Two railway stations - Glenrothes with Thornton railway station and Markinch railway station - serve the Glenrothes area. The former located in the village of Thornton, lies on the Fife Circle Line. The latter, located in Markinch, is the nearer to Glenrothes Town Centre (approx 1.5 miles (2 km)) lying on the Edinburgh to Aberdeen Line with services running to Perth and also to Inverness via the Highland Main Line.^[11][12][82]

Fife (Glenrothes) Airport

Glenrothes is also home to an airfield, Fife Airport (ICAO code EGPJ), which is used by Tayside Aviation to train pilots. The airport is able to accommodate private light aircraft and also contains a small restaurant, the Tipsy Nipper. It was originally intended that the airport would serve the industrial areas of the town for transport of key employees to and from Glenrothes and would potentially support flights to London.^[11][12]

Edinburgh Airport is the nearest major airport to Glenrothes. It is within a 45-minute drive of the town and has regular flights to London, other UK destinations and beyond. Dundee Airport also, to a lesser extent, operates daily flights to London and is within 40 minutes drive of the town. The nearest ferry terminal to Glenrothes is located at Rosyth.

References

Primary sources

• Ferguson, K (1982) A History of Glenrothes (Glenrothes Development Corporation)
• Ferguson, K (1996) A New Town's Heritage: Glenrothes 1948-1995 (Glenrothes Development Corporation)
• Cowling, D (1997) An Essay for Today: Scottish New Towns 1947-1997 (Rutland Press, Edinburgh)
• Links Media (2005)&(2006) Glenrothes and surrounding villages (Cupar)

External links

• e-architect Fife New Town building photographs by Sylvia Grace Borda
• Gillespie Kidd & Coia: St Paul’s, Glenrothes 1956
• Film- New Day, Glenrothes
• Scotland on Film new town archive
• Film- New Towns in Scotland
• Glenrothes on FifeDirect
• Glenrothes on Undiscovered Scotland
• Fife News
• Glenrothes Spoon - community site
• Kingdom Shopping Centre, Glenrothes
• Rothes Halls, Glenrothes
• Glenrothes Economic Profile
• Adopted Glenrothes Area Local Plan 2003
• Central Fife Parliamentary Constituency Economic Profile
• Glenrothes Twinning Association
• Collydean Baptist Church
• Salvation Army, Glenrothes