Browse Items (27 total)

The current exterior of 52 South Street probably dates from the eighteenth century. However, the core of the building is much older. Archaeological investigations undertaken during a recent restoration of the building revealed that part of the house…

The ruins at Blackfriars are all that remain of St Andrews' Dominican friary. The Dominicans (also known as the Black Friars because of the colour of their cloaks) are a Catholic religious order founded in France in the thirteenth century. They were…

The area now occupied by the visitor centre for St Andrews Castle has seen a lot of different uses. During the late 1980s archaeologists found evidence of a fourteenth-century tannery on this site. Tanners converted animal skins into leather by…

Like many medieval English and continental cathedrals, St Andrews had an associated monastery. In the mid-twelfth century a priory of Augustinian canons was founded at St Andrews Cathedral (displacing an earlier community of Celtic holy men). The…

During the Middle Ages St Andrews Cathedral was surrounded by buildings. There was accommodation for the canons who served the cathedral, housing for pilgrims who visited St Andrew's shrine, barns for storing the food and produce given to the church,…

Kirk Hill (or Kirk Heugh as it is sometimes called) has a long history of human activity. Archaeologists have found evidence of prehistoric burials at this site, perhaps dating from as long ago as 500 B.C. There are also some signs of early metal…

The road leading from North Street to the Castle used to be called Fish Gait. The early history of the road is unclear. It has been suggested that Fish Gait is one of the oldest streets in St Andrews. However, archaeological excavations in the 1980s…

The properties on Greyfriars Gardens were built during the nineteenth century, as part of the Victorian expansion of St Andrews. However, the name "Greyfriars" reflects the earlier history of this site. In 1458 Bishop James Kennedy founded a…

Holy Trinity Church was for many years the main place of worship for St Andrews' ordinary residents. It was built in the early fifteenth century, near the residential and trading centre of St Andrews. During the late Middle Ages Holy Trinity was…

Markets have been held in St Andrews since at least the late twelfth century. In the 1190s it was decided that St Andrews' market-place should be on "the land of Lambinus" - an open space roughly where the wide section of Market Street is today. As…

The medieval city of St Andrews was much smaller than the modern settlement. In the late Middle Ages Market Street had housing only as far west as the current road junction with Greyfriars Gardens. An inlaid slab in the pavement nearby marks the site…

The eastern end of Market Street is much narrower than the rest of the street. During the late Middle Ages this area was called the Narrow Mercat Gait. It is thought that the Narrow Mercat Gait was originally an alleyway running between the…

South Court is on the site of some of the oldest dwellings in St Andrews. The burgh of St Andrews was formally founded in the middle of the twelfth century when the local bishop invited settlers from England and continental Europe to establish a new…

St Andrews Castle was the home of the bishops of St Andrews. The site has been fortified since at least the 1190s. However, most of what we see today was built between 1380 and 1560. St Andrews Castle was the scene of major events in Scottish…

St Andrews Cathedral was once the most important church in Scotland. It was the base for the country's senior bishopric and housed the relics of St Andrew (the nation's patron saint). For many centuries St Andrews Cathedral was the largest building…