Our Buildings

In 1673 the Hopes of Craighall, Barons of Ceres, built a tolbooth at a cost of £1,036 Scots (about £86 sterling). It had a prison cell in the basement, and above it a weigh house where the standard weights were kept, so that checks could be made on market days. By the 1960s the building was being used as a potato store and was in poor condition. There are jougs attached to the wall beside the front door, and over the door a carving of a weigh beam and the motto “God Bless the Just”.

The building was given to the Central and North Fife Preservation Society by the Mitchell family of Ceres in 1964, and re-roofed with a grant from the National Trust for Scotland. The rest of the High Street was also in a dilapidated condition. The adjoining cottages (both with closing orders) were bought by the Society for £50 and £500 respectively along with the garden ground between the cottages and the burn. This was what allowed the establishment of a Museum to be contemplated.

The buildings were restored by Murray Jack, architect, with the backing of Fife County Council, and grants from the Historic Buildings Council, the Russell Trust and the Dalrymple Trust. The work was carried out in phases. The Weigh House and the Main Room were opened in 1968, and the rest of that part of the Museum, including the lean-to at the back, in 1974, mainly financed by a grant from the Carnegie UK Trust.

The Museum collections grew, and by 1981 more space was needed. Derelict ground on the opposite side of the High Street was conveyed to the Society by Fife County Council, and the Extension was built by Ian Ross of Hurd Rolland Partnership, with grants from the Countryside Commission, the Pilgrim Trust, the Russell Trust, Fife Regional Council and North East Fife District Council. It was opened in 1984 by Sir John Gilmour.

In 1982 the remaining garden ground adjacent to the Bishop’s Bridge was purchased, and in 1984 the terraced garden area was opened. The following year a donation from the Playfair family allowed the Weigh House and Dungeon to be upgraded. In 1989-90 the retaining wall between the Museum and the Bishop’s Bridge was rebuilt, with financial assistance from Fife Regional Council, North East Fife District Council and Historic Scotland. In 1991-2 the attic store was upgraded with grant aid from the Scottish Museums Council.