Saline is a village and parish in Fife, Scotland, situated 5 miles (8.0 km) to the north-west of Dunfermline. It lies in an elevated position on the western slopes of the Cleish Hills.

Saline
Saline is located in Fife
Saline
Saline
Location within Fife
Population1,370 (2022)[1]
OS grid referenceNT022924
Council area
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
PoliceScotland
FireScottish
AmbulanceScottish
UK Parliament
Scottish Parliament
List of places
UK
Scotland
56°06′54″N 3°34′26″W / 56.115°N 3.574°W / 56.115; -3.574

At the 2001 census the population was 1188, a decline from the 1235 recorded in the 1991 census. The village has a primary school, a parish church and a golf course. The glen runs from the bottom of the main street through to neighbouring Steelend.

The civil parish has a population of 1,762 (in 2011)[2] and an area of 8,757 acres.[3]

The village is dominated to the east-north-east by Saline Hill, 359 meters OD, with a hill fort on the eastern summit. The smaller hill to the south of east at Bandrum has a standing stone on the peak.

Saline Primary School and its "Sitooterie" in the snow

History

edit

A pre-Reformation church was under control of Dunkeld Cathedral.[4]

Formerly a weaving centre, Saline was not much redeveloped during the 19th and 20th centuries as the expansion of industrial mining in west Fife largely passed it by. As a result, Saline contains a sizable number of listed buildings, mostly 18th century weavers' cottages.

The parish church was designed by William Stark in 1808 and remodelled in 1905 by Glasgow architect Peter MacGregor Chalmers. Following the Disruption of 1843 a Free Church was built on Bridge Street by Lewis Mercer.[5]

Famous residents

edit

Thomas Bonnar (1821–1862) the architect was born here.[6]


References

edit
  1. ^ "Mid-2020 Population Estimates for Settlements and Localities in Scotland". National Records of Scotland. 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  2. ^ Census of Scotland 2011, Table KS101SC – Usually Resident Population, publ. by National Records of Scotland. Web site http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/ retrieved March 2016. See “Standard Outputs”, Table KS101SC, Area type: Civil Parish 1930
  3. ^ Gazetteer of Scotland, publ, by W & AK Johnston, Edinburgh, 1937. Article on Saline. Places are presented alphabetically
  4. ^ Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae
  5. ^ Buildings of Scotland: Fife by John Gifford
  6. ^ "Thomas Bonnar". www.scottisharchitects.org.uk. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
edit