We are grateful to Ian Copland and the team of volunteers at Cupar’s Museum & Heritage Centre for this feature – gathering the compilation of posts they published first over several weeks on their own channels, telling the story of the ‘sea to source‘ along the course of the River Eden.

“The River Eden takes many twists and turns from its source before arriving at Guardbridge and the estuary leading to St Andrews Bay. This journey will trace the river upstream from sea to source with commentary on the images and points of interest that are being shared.

The pillars of the former railway bridge across the river at Guardbridge are a reminder of a time when it was possible to take a train directly to St Andrews. The Guardbridge Inn in the background is a long-established hospitality venue.

Added note: the image (right) is the garden of the Eden Coffee Shop – looking back across the river, providing a great view of the old railway bridge pillars.

A view from further upstream is from a viewpoint overlooking the “New Bridge” that was opened in 1938. The earlier photo of the original bridge (taken in 1929 and published in the local press to annouce works on the new crossing) demonstrates why a replacement was necessary to deal with the growth in traffic at that time.

The map (below) courtesy of the National Library of Scotland shows the area around Guardbridge and the River Eden Estuary before the replacement Bridge was built.

Further upstream, the remains of Nydie Mill are of significant interest. Standing close to the riverbank, although very little remains of the structure, some indication of the mills which dated from medieval times may be ascertained by the size of what is left.

In addition to the mill building, it had a large grain store and other accommodation. As there is no road access, the main route to bring grain for milling would have been by the river. A mill weir would have been situated close to the high tide limit on the river.

A little further upstream from Nydie Mill is the property of Edengrove, shown on the map below.

It has been there since at least 1831. One resident who made a major contribution to Cupar was Miss Elizabeth Duncan who left sufficient funds to build the Duncan Institute, the home of the local public library from 1870. Miss Duncan died in 1867. Edengrove was described in a for sale notice in1843 as “A Beautiful villa lying on the North bank of the River Eden within ten minutes of Dairsie where there is a post office and daily stage coach services.”

The house contained 7 rooms, kitchen and other conveniences, with cellars, servants house, stables, barn and a large walled garden. The River Eden forming the boundary to the South was referred to as a fine angling river.

The sites of two further mills are encountered further upstream. These were important to the residents of Dairsie. Dron Mill which was the smallest mill on the river used to deal with grain from local farms and relied on waterpower from the tail race of Lydox Mill close by. Lydox Mill was a flax spinning mill until it was gutted by fire in 1900.

In interesting association with Lydox Mill is that of Thomas Annan (Photograph below, courtesy of Glasgow Libraries) who became a renowned photographer in the Nineteenth Century. Annan was one of seven children whose father was a flax spinner at Lydox Mill. Thomas served his apprenticeship as a lithographer and engraver at The Fife Herald in Cupar before moving to Glasgow in 1849.

He established his reputation and associated with pioneers of photography through his portraits of notable individuals. His images of Old Glasgow Closes and Streets between 1868 and 1877 for the Glasgow City Improvement Trust received many accolades and remain a testament to his abilities.

Surely some of the most iconic views are to be found around Dairsie Bridge, Dairsie Old Church and Dairsie Castle.

 

Many important episodes in our history have taken place in the vicinity of these structures with the Bishop of St Andrews having a pivotal role.

The fine medieval bridge (above right) was constructed in the time of Bishop James Beaton, who was Bishop of St Andrews, Dairsie Old Church was the first parish church built around 1621 and the Castle, a typical tower house was constructed in the 14th Century. It was later rebuilt by the Learmonth Family. The Castle became ruinous in the Nineteenth Century, then rebuilt again in the 1990’s with a new purpose as a luxury holiday destination.

Beyond Dairsie Bridge, we take a detour into Dura Den, pictured as an idyllic retreat in this early engraving (below left): added note – right is the drive down Dura Den in the autumn, a spectacular sight when the trees are ablaze with seasonal colours.

The Ceres Burn is a main tributary that flows through Dura Den and joins the River Eden just before Dairsie Bridge. However peaceful we might envisage this tranquil spot, it was once a hive of industry.

During the Nineteenth Century there were four water powered mills between Pitscottie and the River Eden. Most were under the ownership of David Yool, an influential industrialist and entrepreneur. The most northerly mill was Kemback Mill, a large sawmill that also functioned as ac corn mill at times. Blebo Mills was the main employer, spinning flax with a barley mill alongside. Yoolfield Mill also spun flax. Few vestiges of this once important activity remain today.

Dairsie Mill which stood upstream from the bridge over the River Eden was described in 1855 as a cluster of buildings, consisting of a mill, farm steading and dwelling house. The mill was fitted out to process meal and barley. The location map (below right) shows another feature across the river from the mill in the grounds of Kemback House. This was an outdoor curling pond which would have attracted players from the neighbourhood during the winter months when conditions permitted.

A meandering stretch upstream from Dairsie Mill is close to another interesting property.

Woodend, as shown on the map (below) was requisitioned as a VAD Hospital during the First World war until the increase in numbers of wounded troops made it essential to move to larger premises in Ceres. In the 1980’s Woodend was a nursing home. Rumgally House was also requisitioned during war time. During the Second World War it became a hostel for staff working at the new listening station at Hawklaw just outside Cupar. Hawklaw was one of a series of “Y” Stations that intercepted enemy radio signals and forwarded them for decoding at the Foreign Office and Bletchley Park.

Newmills, pictured below, and now converted to housing was at one time a flax and barley mill, but when spinning was given up it converted to become a flour mill. The map shows a stretch of river that was popular with anglers, including those who did not necessarily have permission.

Moving closer to Cupar, Tailabout (below, left) was the site of a mill that had a water wheel that drove a threshing mill in addition to grinding corn.

Thomastoun Mill (above right) was a meal and flour mill that ceased to function around 1900. The photograph shows Thomastoun prior to demolition. Our map (centre) illustrates the complex systems of lades that were used to divert the river to provide power. Cupar Curling Club’s Pond was constructed in 1863 adjacent to this stretch of the river and was used for many years until regular play was transferred to a new artificial rink at Ladyinch in 1906.

Now that we have reached Cupar, we reproduce a section of an early map created in 1654 by J. Blaeu.

This shows that the town of Cupar was largely sited on one bank of the river. It is reassuring to note that many of the place names of that period survive to this day.

The photograph (above) shows the river just before Pitscottie Bridge and the section of the river that forms the boundary of the Haugh Park. The natural course of the river was diverted to straighten the river as it passed the park (below).

 

… to be continued!

We will add to this piece when the Museum continues their journey upstream to the source of the Eden.

Feel free to share with family and friends who may be interested. And if you have any of your own tales from the riverbank, please do share them with us. You can email us via this link. Just pop ‘River Eden‘ in the email subject. Thank you.

 

Need more?

The Museum is open to visitors between April and 31st October. The current hours are on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday between 2.00 and 4.30 pm. Visits out with these times may be arranged by using the contact form via this link or by leaving a voice message on 01334 844979.

For more on their exhibitions, please follow this link to their own website.

 

Thanks for reading.

 

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