Arncroach is a small village situated in the 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 ...

, four miles inland of the fishing village of

Pittenweem Pittenweem ( ) is a fishing village and civil parish in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 1,747. Etymology The name derives from Pictish and Scottish Gaelic. "Pit-" represents Pictish ''pett'' 'pl ...

and around 10 miles away from

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 ...

, 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 ...

. The name Arncroach derives from

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

‘Height of the gallows’ (àird na croiche) or (less likely) ‘share (of land) of the gallows’ (earrann na croiche). The village green is named after Louise Lorimer. Arncroach is within the parish of Carnbee. Situated about 1/4 of a mile from Arncroach is

Kellie Castle Kellie Castle is a castle just outside Arncroach and below the dominant hill in the area, Kellie Law. It is about 4 kilometres north of Pittenweem in the East Neuk of Fife, Scotland. Early history The earliest records of Kellie go back to ...

, formerly the seat of the

Earl of Kellie The title Earl of Kellie or Kelly is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in 1619 for Sir Thomas Erskine, who was Captain of the Guard and Groom of the Stool for James VI. It is named after Barony of Kellie in Fife, Scotland. Since 1875, ...

, and is also where the famous Lorimer family lived. The village saw the installation of the first wind turbine in the

East Neuk The East Neuk () or East Neuk of Fife is an area of the coast of Fife, Scotland. "Neuk" is the Scots language, Scots word for nook or corner, and the East Neuk is generally accepted to comprise the fishing villages of the most northerly part o ...

area of Fife, directly adjacent to the Gillingshill Nature Reserve.

Geology and geography

Arncroach is situated at the foot of Kellie Law, a small hill which is visible from the

Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is a firth in Scotland, an inlet of the North Sea that separates Fife to its north and Lothian to its south. Further inland, it becomes the estuary of the River Forth and several other rivers. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate ...

. The village has a population of around 120 people.

Notable residents

Furniture maker, William Wheeler of Arncroach. Designer and maker of Chippendale and Gossip Chairs circa 1880.

Education

Arncroach once had two schools, despite it only being a very small village. One was a boys' school and the other was for girls. Later they were combined, as having two became impractical. The Old School of Arncroach has been a residential home since the school was closed in the mid-1990s. Children living in the village and surrounding area now have to travel to

Colinsburgh Colinsburgh is a village in east Fife, Scotland, in the parish of Kilconquhar. History The village is named after Colin Lindsay, 3rd Earl of Balcarres (1652–1722), who gave the land on which it was built. It was here that the first meeting of ...

Primarys, and

Waid Academy The Waid Academy is a public secondary school in Anstruther, Fife. The school's catchment area extends to as far as Elie and Colinsburgh to the west and Crail to the east (the East Neuk boundaries) but accepts pupils from towns such as Leven, ...

Anstruther Anstruther ( ; ) is a coastal town in Fife, Scotland, situated on the north-shore of the Firth of Forth and south-southeast of St Andrews. The town comprises two settlements, Anstruther Easter and Anstruther Wester, which are divided by a st ...

for secondary education.

References

Villages in Fife {{Fife-geo-stub