The Cupar Food Station project continues to gather momentum and support – the aspiration of ensuring ‘food & drink’ is at the very heart of our medieval market town, showcasing provenance and helping to sustain residents, visitors and our wider community. As part of the research that is helping to create a business case study, recent site visits have suggested that the property on Ferguson Square provides a unique development opportunity as the only protected part is the listed façade, the frontage of the former Crossgate House that commanded the grounds between Crossgate and the River Eden. We reached out to the team at Cupar Heritage to discover more on the history of the site …

Gambling Sheriff

The property – set back from the Crossgate – was built in the early 1800s for Thomas Horsburgh, Sheriff Clerk of the County of Fife. At his time, Sheriff Clerks were a pillar in the local society. Thomas would have played a key role in the running of Cupar’s Sheriff Court overseeing both civil and criminal cases.

According to Paula Martin’s book, Cupar: The History of a Small Scottish Town: “some writers (lawyers) from the 1790s started buying up small pieces of property as they came on the market, gambling on acquiring a large enough area to be able to demolish the existing buildings and build a new house on the site.“Paula’s research notes: “The foremost example of this in Cupar is Crossgate House, built by Thomas Horsburgh, who lived from 1760 to 1847, probably before 1815. Here four rigs (tenements) were acquired, one street front building demolished and a detached house built, set back from the street but visible from it, and with a walled garden and outbuildings to the side and behind“.

1820

The existence of Crossgate house is marked on the 1820 Town Plan of Cupar by John Wood as T Horsburgh’s property (below). As yet, Speedie’s Close which runs from Crossgate to the riverside had not been built. The close south of the property is visible on the plan.

The 1837 edition of Pigot’s Directory still lists Horsburgh as Sheriff Clerk of Fife, so he continued to occupy it at that time.

Although not named on the 1854 plan, Crossgate House is identifiable with an avenue of trees leading off Crossgate towards the property – and with a large garden to the rear, running down to what is now Waterend Road and the River Eden. And by this date, the property has closes on both sides – part of the town’s ancient and unique street pattern that survives to this day.

The Burgh Valuation Roll of 1855 describes it as a house and garden with a coach house, owned by the Misses Horsburgh, but with John Inglis as the tenant.

Just over a decade later, an advert for the sale of the property (May 1866) has the following description.

“The House has a carriage approach from the Crosssgate with well stocked gardens extending to the Eden behind. Two handsome public rooms, parlour, six bedrooms, parlour and other conveniences. Adjoining the House and to be sold with it are a three stalled stable and house for the groom.”

Changing of the guard …

We roll the clocks forward to the 20th century and the once-imposing private home underwent a series of changes that would lead eventually to the demolition of all but the frontage.

On the 20th September 1919, The Dundee Courier confirmed that the house had been occupied by the military during the Great War. At one time after 1914 it had as many as 71 soldiers living there. Sadly, the occupation by so many left the house uninhabitable.

Later that year, on 29th November, the Dundee Courier carried a report of a property purchase in Cupar:

“Johnstone Simpson c/o Thomson solicitors Dundee have purchased Crossgate House and Grounds, Crossgate, Cupar from Mr James Grosset, Agent for the Trustees of the late Mr Murray Johnston, Sherrif Clerk of Fife. During the War it was in occupation of the military. It is understood that it is to be converted into a motor engineering works which will be under the management of one of Mr Smith’s sons. Price paid about £1000.”

The contemporary Valuation Roll at the time described the premises as a ‘garage, workshop and petrol pumps‘ with a Rateable Value of £110.

The Dundee Courier of May 1934 carried a report of a funeral of a lady that shed further light on Crossgate House.

“Funeral of aged Fife lady. Miss Elizabeth Mitchell aged 91 years who resided with her nieces the Misses Miller at The Neuk. Lundin Links and died there was buried yesterday in St James’s burial ground Cupar. Her father who was Provost of Cupar for 7 years was a partner in the old established legal firm Drummond and Mitchell and now Drummond, Johnstone and Grosset. Crossgate House, now a bus garage was the home of the Mitchells as it was to a subsequent partner of the firm, Mr Ben Johnstone who was also Sherrif Clerk.”

New lease of life …

Men in the Motor Trade gives an account of how The Central Garage was established at Crossgate House.

“Although a comparatively young man, Mr William Christopher Smith, proprietor of the Central Garage and Engineering Works, Cupar, is one of the most prominent personalities in Cupar and district. His connection with engineering commenced in the year 1907 when he went into the workshop of Messrs Smith, Laing & Co, jute spinners, Russell Mills, Springfield, of which his father, Mr George Batchelor Smith, is senior partner.

After gaining experience at the mills, Mr Smith went down to Lowestoft in Suffolk where he joined the firm of Messrs J.W. Brooke & Co., marine and motor engineers. While in England he earned a name for himself by his motor boat racing prowess. He was pilot of the crew of the Mandesley Brooke ‘Baby Five’ which, out of 15 starts, secured eleven firsts and two seconds. At Cowes on one occasion he won the flying mile, a performance which he repeated at several other race meetings. He figured in the competitions for the British International and the Wilson Ltd trophies and, in addition to racing at Cowes, Mr Smith competed in the Solent and at Ghent and Monte Carlo.

The knowledge he acquired within his firm of the intricacies of marine and other engines stood him in good stead when, on the outbreak of war, he enlisted and joined the Royal Navy Voluntary Reserve. During the first few months of the war he was drafted to Belgium. After being demobilised in 1919 from Harwich, Mr Smith returned to the county town and in the following year established the now widely known Central Garage.

The garage was formerly a large private home, Crossgate House, and spacious accommodation for motor vehicles has been built in front of it. The rooms themselves were transformed into workshops and fitted with up-to-date machinery including plant for acetylene welding and painting.

Commencing on a comparatively modest basis, Mr Smith soon found his business developing rapidly and in 1925 he put a fleet of buses on the road, and these were from time to time extended until today they practically cover the whole area between Newport and Kirkcaldy. The other day arrangements were concluded in the sale of the business to Messrs Alexander & Co., one of the subsidiary companies of the Scottish Motor Traction Company.”

All aboard …

A further cutting from 5th June 1930 tells how the premises were acquired by the bus company Simpson & Forrester (another subsidiary of the Scottish Motor Traction Company) who extended the bus service first launched by William Smith to accommodate 25-30 buses.

The bus company Alexanders took over the running of the premises and bus services in 1939/40.

They ran the bus services from Ferguson Square right up until it closed in 1981. For bus spotters, the photo above shows a Guy Arab III. We are reliably informed (credit to A D Broughall) that these had Gardner 6LW engines and Guy lowbridge bodies. New in ’52, they joined Fife in 1966, and were withdrawn in 1970 – so there’s a four year window for the above shot to have been snapped. The scene shows bus conductresses waiting to take up duty. The photo is faded but those featured have been identified as Isobel Winton, Isobel Boyter, Nellie Meekison, Rita Morris and Jean Dandie. The inset is William Smith.

A sketch plan of the bus depot (below right) shows the extent of the site: you can work out the elements against the old aerial image (date unknown) on the left …

And from another angle …

Beyond the buses …

Some further interesting observations of life at Crossgate House are revealed in a news cutting from 7th March 1981 with the recollections of Isabel Kinnear, Cupar’s first woman postie! Isabel is pictured third from the right in the back row (enlarged from the team photo) that shows all of the Post Office staff in Cupar from 1915.

Isabel worked for the Watson family while they were in residence.

“The recent reprieve of Crossgate House, Cupar, gladdened the heart of Mrs Isabel Kinnear, who remembers clearly the Georgian building in its full glory when it was the home of Provost David D. Watson around the turn of the century. Mrs Kinnear’s dream is for some rich developer to transform the sad old building to its grand state which she helped to maintain all those years ago when she worked as a ‘daily’ for the Watson family.

In those days Crossgate House supported domestic staff of five, two maids to work ‘upstairs’, Mrs Kinnear (who was then Miss Staig), another daily for the more menial tasks, and a cook. Mrs Kinnear recalls that Crossgate House was beautifully furnished and full of antiques. Each room featured a large open fireplace and, because there was no electricity, one of Mrs Kinnear’s jobs was to clean the paraffin lamps. She also had the unenviable task of cleaning the kitchen’s iron pots and pans, but in spite of all the hard work and a weekly wage of only five shillings, Mrs Kinnear felt a great affection for the house. She says she would dearly love to be able to see round Crossgate House again to re-live happy times.

Provost and Mrs Watson moved from Crossgate House to Eden Park and Mrs Kinnear continued to workfor them before embarking on a new venture as a ‘postie’.

It was at the beginning of the first world war that Mrs Kinnear became disgruntled with domestic service applied to the Post Office for a job. In being accepted, she made a small piece of history by becoming Cupar’s first postwoman. Her pay packet doubled to ten shillings a week, plus a bicycle allowance, and, although she started her rounds at 7.30 a.m., most days she was home by 2 p.m. and able to look after her infirm mother. Her round took in Dairsie and Foodie, areas which she had known from childhood. Mrs Kinnear was born in Ceres but was raised in Dairsie where her father owned a threshing mill. The elements showed no mercy to female “posties” and Mrs Kinnear had to battle through all weather conditions the same as her male colleagues. One of the worst times was during the great flood of 1916 when, for two days, the only way to get from Newtown across Burnside to Lady Wynd was by boat.

Mrs Kinnear got married in the same year as the flood and some four years later the couple moved to the house in South Union Street, Cupar, which has been her home ever since. For a while she returned to Crossgate House which, by then, had been taken over by Alexander’s bus company, but this time to clean the buses instead of the house, which by then had started its slide into decay. Mrs Kinnear is now a very active octagenarian. In fact she celebrated her 86th birthday on the day Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer announced their engagement to make it a very memorable day. Mrs Kinnear has two daughters, one living in Canada and anorher, Mrs Muriel Thomson, at Glenrothes. She has eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, who live in Mississauga, Canada.”

Saving face …

The ‘reprieve‘ mentioned in the press cutting above referenced the discussions around the dire state of Crossgate House after the closure of the bus station and depot.

There were calls for the entire property to be demolished.

It continued to deteriorate until in April 1984 Northeast Fife District Council considered and approved plans for a supermarket. Templetons (later Presto) opened on 15th February 1985. The classical façade (as seen today) was saved thanks to the efforts made by Central and North Fife Preservation Society.

Latterly, having changed hands several times, the ‘supermarket’ property was acquired and then operated by Argos until the company was taken over by Sainsbury’s. The chain closed the Cupar branch in 2020 along with many other outlets across the country. It was acquired by its current owner in 2021 – the site including the former Argos building, parking areas off Waterend Road, Ferguson Square itself as well as the three units on the Square.

A new course?

The course over the last two-and-a-half years has been well documented. Trust Chair, Tony Miklinski, explains why they adopted the project last year, saying: “As a ‘development’ trust, our strategic ambition is to support our community through wealth-creation – reducing and (eventually) removing the need for funding support from the 3rd and public sectors. To do so, we see this site and the project’s unique prospects as a means to that sustainable end.” Tony adds: “The number one priority is to save and regenerate the property with its listed façade that, without positive action, will continue to deteriorate and threatens to blight the town centre for years to come. Our aim is to bring the property and site back to economically-productive use – delivering tangible community benefits and support.”

Nothing is set in stone but from the feasibility study undertaken by the Trust and their working group of volunteers, some key opportunities have been highlighted and it is these that have been taken forward as part of the Business Case Study consultation.

The Business Case Study now in progress (April-June 2025) and seeks input from businesses and interested parties. The survey remains open until the 6th June and can be accessed by clicking on the image below. Once concluded, the Trust will assess ‘next steps’ and report more in July on their plans for the next chapter of this historic site.

With thanks …

We would like to thanks lan C. Copland, Trustee at Cupar Museum and Heritage Centre for his help in researching and compiling the materials used in this feature. We could not have created such an informative piece without his hard work and support.

 

Thank you for reading.

Feel free to share with family, friends and colleagues who may be interested.

 

If you run a business or community group and would like to support our work, click on the image below to sign-up. Our packages start at just £100 + VAT for the year.

If you are a member of the public – a reader, follower, viewer or listener of our channels – and you enjoy what we deliver, you can support us too via our Crowdfunder on this link. We are not a charity but our work helps to support many local causes and charities, so any contribution you can make is very much appreciated.