Guardbridge () is a village in the north-east of

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

, on the east coast of

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. It is approximately north-west of

St Andrews St Andrews (; ; , pronounced ʰʲɪʎˈrˠiː.ɪɲ is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourth-largest settleme ...

, and is situated on the estuary of the River Eden, at the junction of the

A91 road A91 or A-91 may refer to: * A91 road, a trunk road in Scotland * Dutch Defence, in the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings * A-91, a Soviet bull-pup assault rifle, derived from the 9A-91 carbine {{Letter-NumberCombDisambig ...

between St Andrews and

Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...

and the A919/A914 road between

Leuchars Leuchars (pronounced or ; "rushes") is a town and parish near the north-east coast of Fife in Scotland. The civil parish has a population of 5,754 (in 2011) Census of Scotland 2011, Table KS101SC – Usually Resident Population, publ. by Nati ...

and the Tay Road Bridge. Guardbridge has a number of local amenities including a school, general store, garages, hotel, takeaway food shop, hairdresser, furniture maker, and bowling and fishing clubs. The village has also become a very popular dormitory settlement due to its close proximity to St Andrews and Dundee.

History

The village takes its name from the 15th-century six-arched bridge built by Bishop

Henry Wardlaw Henry Wardlaw (died 6 April 1440) was a Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish church leader, Bishop of St Andrews and founder of the University of St Andrews. Ancestors He was descended from an ancient Saxon family which came to Scotland with Edgar ...

, who founded the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

. Some have said the bridge was built to assist pilgrims en route to St Andrews; however, its purpose was to provide safe access for students to ensure the success of Wardlaw's university. Though the first element of the name is anglicized as 'Guard', the origin of the name has never been satisfactorily explained. As alternatives are less credible, the theory that this may come from "gare", the French term for statio, an assembly point for pilgrims, retains some credence in academic sources. Others cast doubt on such usage of "gare" before the 18th century. Alternative theories include the Scots words "gair", meaning muddy, or, though unlikely, "gerr", meaning clumsy or awkward. The bridge is a Category A

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. St Andrews was one of the most important pilgrimage centres in Europe. Hostels were available every 6 miles along the pilgrim trail, with the last one located at Guardbridge. There, up to 600 pilgrims were provided with dormitories, a refectory and a church. From that point, the

Augustinians Augustinians are members of several religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written about 400 A.D. by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13 ...

regulated the numbers travelling into the holy city of St Andrews. The average stay in the town was three months. In 1852, the north-east Fife railway line was extended to

and a

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide ...

was built over the Eden. This St Andrews Railway was closed in 1969, not as part of the

Beeching cuts The Beeching cuts, also colloquially referred to as the Beeching Axe, were a major series of route closures and service changes made as part of the restructuring of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain in the 1960s. They are named ...

, as is commonly supposed, but by

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...

. The viaduct was demolished, but its supporting piers are still visible in the river. In 1873 William Haig and two of his sons formed the Guardbridge Paper Company. This was to find a more profitable use for their Seggie

whisky Whisky or whiskey is a type of liquor made from Fermentation in food processing, fermented grain mashing, mash. Various grains (which may be Malting, malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, Maize, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky ...

distillery Distillation, also classical distillation, is the process of separating the component substances of a liquid mixture of two or more chemically discrete substances; the separation process is realized by way of the selective boiling of the mixt ...

, which had been established there since 1810. The mill went into production in 1874. As the mill developed, the village grew around it, with new housing and roads to attract and accommodate workers. Before the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

the labour force was over 400 and reached a peak of 620 in the late 1950s. The

paper mill A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt ...

was previously the main local industry and was operated by Curtis Fine Papers. On 24 July 2008 the mill went into receivership and 180 workers were made redundant. Many locals were employed elsewhere in Fife,

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

or even further afield. The building which housed the mill is now Eden Brewery.

Notable residents

* David Finlay, recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

References

{{authority control Guardbridge