Pitmilly facts for kids
Pitmilly is a special place in Scotland, located about five miles southeast of St Andrews. It's important for three main reasons:
- People have lived here for a very long time, since ancient times! We know this because tools and other items from the Neolithic (New Stone Age), Bronze Age, and Iron Age have been found. There's even an old burial mound from the Bronze Age called a barrow still there.
- Pitmilly is connected to a famous Scottish family, Clan Hay. A Celtic princess named Eva of Pitmilly, who owned these lands, married a Norman knight named William II de Haya in the 1100s. They were the ancestors of Clan Hay.
- For over 700 years, Pitmilly was owned by another important family, the Monypennys.
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What Does Pitmilly Mean?
The name Pitmilly has been used for hundreds of years, but it used to be spelled in many different ways, like Petmullin or Pitmulin. These different spellings come from old languages like Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, Scots, and Latin.
The first part of the name, "Pit," comes from an old Celtic word, pett, which means "a piece of land." You'll find "Pit" in many place names in this part of Scotland. The second part, "milly," means "mill." So, Pitmilly means "a piece of land by the mill(s)." And guess what? There are still old, ruined mills at Pitmilly today!
Pitmilly's Location and Old Farms
The Pitmilly lands are located on both sides of the Pitmilly Burn, which is a small stream. This stream flows into a bigger one called Kenly Water, which then reaches the North Sea on the east coast of Fife. The lands on the east side of Pitmilly Burn are right next to the sea.
In the early 1900s, the Pitmilly estate was very large. It included the main house, called Pitmilly House, and several farms. It also had a flax mill (for making linen from flax plants) and a grist mill (for grinding grain). There was even a small hut for fishermen. The farms that were part of the estate are still around today and are called Boghall, Falside, Hillhead, Morton of Pitmilly, and Kilduncan.
Sometimes, the Kenly Water was also called Pitmilly Burn on old maps, which can be a bit confusing. But it's clear that the Pitmilly Burn of the Pitmilly Lands is a smaller stream that flows into the Kenly Water.
Old maps from as far back as 1642 show how the streams were named differently by various mapmakers. Some maps even show the two streams reaching the North Sea separately. These maps also show that a main house existed at Pitmilly in 1775 and that the farms in the area have had the same names for a long time. One map even mentions "Pitmilly mills" (plural), which explains why two different mills were sometimes called Pitmilly Mill.
Ancient History of Pitmilly
Pitmilly has been home to people for thousands of years! We know this because many ancient objects have been found here from the Neolithic (New Stone Age), Bronze Age, and Iron Age.
- Ancient Burials: In the late 1700s and early 1800s, people found stone coffins containing human bones on the shore near Pitmilly. At first, they thought these might belong to Vikings, but it's now clear they were actually Bronze Age cists (stone burial boxes).
- Pitmilly Law: A famous landmark on the Pitmilly estate is Pitmilly Law, which is a Bronze Age burial mound. It even has trees growing on top of it! In the 1860s, empty cists were found there, and other nearby cists contained skeletons. Around 2004, another early Bronze Age cist was found near the ruins of Pitmilly House during road work. It held a skeleton and a special pot called a "food vessel."
- Carved Stone Balls: In 2006, a mysterious Carved Stone Ball was found near Pitmilly Law. These unique stone balls have been found in several places across Scotland.
There aren't many written records about Pitmilly from the Bronze Age until the Normans arrived in Scotland. However, we know that the Picts, who were an ancient people of Scotland, lived and farmed here. Nearby St Andrews became an important religious center during this time.
In 1710, a writer named Robert Sibbald mentioned some tall, rough stone pillars on higher ground south of an old bishop's residence. These stones were likely on the Pitmilly Estate. People thought they might be monuments to important men killed in battles with the Danes (Vikings), who often raided these shores. However, it's also possible these stones were menhirs, which are tall standing stones put up by the Picts. Such stones are common in Scotland.
Countess Ada and Pitmilly's Land
In the late 1100s, Countess Ada de Warenne, who was the mother of King William I of Scotland, gave two pieces of land she owned at Pitmilly to the St Andrews Cathedral Priory (a religious community). King William later agreed to these gifts.
The Hays Family and Pitmilly
William II de Haya, the first member of the de Haya family recorded in Scotland, married Eva of Pitmilly around 1171. We don't know much about Eva, except that she owned land at Pitmilly and brought it into the marriage. This marriage was very important because it was the start of the family that would become Clan Hay.
In 1172, William II de Haya rented out a piece of land in Pitmilly to the St Andrews Cathedral Priory for 20 years. The Hays' connection to Pitmilly ended shortly after William died around 1201. Eva and her son, David, gave the land back to the priory after a disagreement, but they still received a yearly payment for it. This land was part of Eva's dowry (a gift of property or money from a bride to her husband) and was known as Falside, which is still a farm in Pitmilly today.
The Monypennys: Pitmilly's Long-Term Owners
The Monypenny family's long history with Pitmilly began in 1211. That year, Thomas, the Prior of St Andrews, gave the lands of Pitmilly to Richard Monipennie. Richard was likely a Norman knight, and at the time, a man named Malise of Pitmilly was renting the land.
In 1296, John de Monypenny of Pitmilly, along with many other Scottish nobles, signed the Ragman Rolls. This meant he promised to be loyal only to Edward I of England. If he hadn't signed, he would have lost his lands and faced other harsh punishments.
There isn't much historical information about Pitmilly itself during the centuries that followed, but there's more about the Moneypenny family. In 1710, Robert Sibbald noted that the house of a very old family named Monipenny existed one mile east of Kingsbarns. An old map from 1775 shows the square area of the grounds and house, labeling them "Pitmilly Coll" and "Moneypenny."
The Pitmilly House we have records of was built in three parts. The first two parts were built in the 1700s. The third part, a block added to the front, was built in 1818 in the style of a Georgian mansion. The architect was Robert Balfour of St. Andrews. There's no evidence that an earlier house stood exactly on this spot, but old stone wall pieces from another large building were found nearby, which might have been part of an older home.
The last Monypenny to live at Pitmilly was Charlton James Blackwell Monypenny (1867–1947). He moved to South America in 1902, but he was still listed as the owner. Later, the Monypenny family sold Pitmilly House and the farms on the estate.
Pitmilly After the Monypennys
During World War II, Pitmilly House was used as a place for members of the Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS) to live. After the war, it became a hotel, but these businesses didn't last. The house, which some people said was haunted by a very active poltergeist, fell into disrepair. It burned down in 1967, and much of the material from the building was used to build houses in Kingsbarns.
Today, Pitmilly is mostly good farmland, and the farms from the old estate are still working. One of them, Morton of Pitmilly, has been turned into a holiday resort where people can stay.
The most important landmark is still Pitmilly Law. You can also find the ruins of two old mills and a fisherman's hut on the estate.
- Hillhead Mill: This was a grist mill (for grinding grain). You can still see the date 1716 on it. It's located where Pitmilly Burn and Kenly Water meet.
- Crail Mill: This was a flax mill (for processing flax plants). It has a miller's house next to it, dated 1790. It's a bit upstream from Hillhead Mill. There's a large, marshy pond nearby that was probably used for soaking the flax.
Sometimes both mills were called Pitmilly Mill, which can be confusing!
Not much is left of Pitmilly House itself. Pitmilly West, built in 1975 where the west gatehouse used to be, now operates as a bed and breakfast. The other three gatehouses, the walls around the grounds, paths, and ruins of the stables and bowling alley are still there. The Gate Lodge has been nicely renovated, the East Lodge is still in its original Georgian style, and the South Lodge is completely in ruins.
You can see many photos of the Pitmilly area as it looks today on Geograph Britain and Ireland. The local beach is unofficially called Pitmilly Beach, and the Fife Coastal Path runs along it and then into the valley of Kenly Water, past the old Pitmilly mills.
Images for kids
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Pitmilly Law
