Overview of Lower Largo

A resort village in the East Neuk of Fife, situated adjacent to Lundin Links at the foot of a cliff on Largo Bay.

It was for centuries a prosperous fishing village noted for its manufacture of nets and knitwear. At the east end of the village Temple Hill is said to mark the site of land owned by the mediaeval Knights Templar who were brought to Scotland in the 12th Century by David I.

Daniel Defoe visited Lower Largo in 1706 and was inspired to write The Life and Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe after visiting the birthplace of Alexander Selkirk who was marooned on the island of Juan Fernandez for 4 years. There is a statue commemorating 'Robinson Crusoe' on the site of the house where Selkirk was born in 1676.

Known fully as Seatown of Largo, its harbour was linked by steamboat to Newhaven on the south coast of the Firth of Forth during the 19th century. Lower Largo with its fine sandy beach eventually became a popular tourist centre after the arrival of the railway in 1856.

Lower Largo was designated a conservation area in 1978.