Crawford Priory

A historical perspective, drawn from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885.

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Crawford Priory, a mansion in the N of Cults parish, central Fife, near the right bank of the Eden, 3 miles SW of Cupar. Built in 1813 by Lady Mary Lindsay Crawford, who in 1808 had succeeded to the Crawford-Lindsay estates on the death of her brother, the twenty second Earl of Crawford, it was originally a splendid castellated edifice in the Gothic style, but fell into neglect and dilapidation, till in 1871-72 it was thoroughly renovated and enlarged, a carriage porch and vestibule being then erected at the S entrance, and a Gothic tower and spire, 115 feet high, at the E side, whilst a portion of the interior was converted into a private Episcopal chapel. It now is a seat of George Frederick Boyle, sixth Earl of Glasgow (b. 1825; suc. 1869), who owns 5625 acres in the shire, valued at £9085 per annum. See also Cumbre, Hawkhead, and Kelburn.

An accompanying 19th C. Ordnance Survey map is available, or use the map tab to the right of this page.

Note: This text has been made available using a process of scanning and optical character recognition. Despite manual checking, some typographical errors may remain. Please remember this description dates from the 1880s; names may have changed, administrative divisions will certainly be different and there are known to be occasional errors of fact in the original text, which we have not corrected because we wish to maintain its integrity. This information is provided subject to our standard disclaimer