Jamestown, Fife facts for kids
Jamestown is a small village, also called a hamlet, located in Fife, Scotland. It sits on the south side of Inverkeithing's Inner Bay. You can see the Jamestown Viaduct nearby, which is a big bridge carrying the Fife Circle Line train tracks right over the village. The M90 highway also passes by to the west.
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What's the Story Behind Jamestown's Name?
Jamestown got its name from a person named James Reid. In the 1800s, there was a chemical factory here. James Reid changed this factory into homes for people to live in. This is how the area became known as Jamestown.
How Old is Jamestown?
Back in the 1850s, a group called the Ordnance Survey described Jamestown as a "cluster of cottage houses." These homes were lived in by workers who had jobs in the many stone quarries nearby. Quarries are places where stone is dug out of the ground.
Important Buildings in Jamestown
Jamestown has some interesting buildings with a lot of history.
The important Naval Base Mansions in Jamestown were built in 1909. These large buildings were made to house workers from the dockyard in Rosyth. A dockyard is a place where ships are built and repaired. Today, this building is considered a special historic building, known as "B-listed" in Scotland. It is now used as a furniture store.
The Old Catholic Chapel
There used to be a Roman Catholic chapel in Jamestown. It was built to serve the many Irish dockworkers who came to the area for work. This chapel opened in 1913 and was named after St Peter in Chains. However, it was replaced by a new church in Inverkeithing in 1977.
Shamrock Terrace and Irish Heritage
The area's Irish background is still remembered in the name of Shamrock Terrace. This is a group of apartment buildings, called tenements, located at the bottom of Ferryhills Road. The shamrock is a symbol often linked with Ireland.
