Parish of Cameron

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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1791-99: Cameron 1834-45: Cameron

Cameron, a parish in the E of Fife. It contains the hamlets of Denhead, Lathones, and Radernie, 3,6, and 6 miles SW of St Andrews, under which the first has a post office; and its church stands 4 SW of St Andrews station. Bounded N and NE by St Andrews parish, E by Dunino, SE by Carnbee, SW by Kilconquhar, and W by Ceres, it has an extreme length from E to W of 5¼ miles, an extreme breadth from N to S of 3⁵/₈ miles, and an area of 9324½ acres. The undulating surface nowhere much exceeds 600, or sinks below 300, feet above sea-level, but presents a series of gentle elevations, nearly parallel to one another, and extending from W to E. It is drained by burns, rising mostly on or near its western border, two of which trace the northern and south-eastern boundaries, whilst the longer Cameron Burn runs past the church eastward into Dunino, there to fall into Pitmilly Burn. Drumcarrow Craig, a rugged mass of trap, situated in the NW, is the only hill. Coal is worked; and trap rock, sandstone, and limestone are quarried. The soil in some parts is poor and moorish on till or moorland; in other parts is either clay or black earth on a retentive bottom; in other parts is a dry kindly loam on gravel or on trap rock. About 66 per cent. of the entire area is regularly or occasionally in tillage, some 25 are permanent pasture, and rather more than 6 are under wood; rather less than 3 are waste. Mount Melville in the N, 2½ miles SW of St Andrews, is the only considerable mansion; at it was born the well-known novelist, Major Geo. Jn. WhyteMelville (1821-78). Disjoined from St Andrews parish in 1645, Cameron includes part of the quoad sacra parish of Largoward, and is in the presbytery of St Andrews and synod of Fife. Its own quoad sacra portion had 886 inhabitants in 1871, and the living is worth £427. The church, a very plain structure, was built in 1808, and contains 495 sittings. There is also a U.P. church at Lathones; and three public schools-Cameron, Denhead, and Radernie-with respective accommodation for 69,67, and 71 children, had (1880) an average attendance of 41,38, and 77, and grants of £47,2s. 6d., £29,19s., and £62,13s. Valuation (1881) £11,856, 15s. 10d. Pop. (1801) 1095, (1831) 1207, (1841) 1167, (1861) 1362, (1871) 1158, (1881) 1003.—Ord. Sur., shs. 41,49,1857-65.

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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