Ballingry ( or locally or (older) ); , ) is a town in

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 ...

, Scotland. It is near the boundary with

Perth and Kinross Perth and Kinross (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. It is bordered by Highland (council area), Highland and Aberdeenshire to the north, Angus, Scotland, Angus, Dundee, and F ...

, north of Lochgelly. It has an estimated population of in . The once separate villages of Ballingry,

Lochore Lochore is a former mining village in Fife, Scotland. It takes its name from the nearby Loch Ore. It is largely joined to the adjacent villages of Ballingry to the north and Crosshill to the south. Education Most of the children in Lochore go ...

, Crosshill, and Glencraig are now somewhat joined together as the part of the Benarty area. Ballingry, along with its neighbour Lochgelly, is one of Fife's 'regeneration areas' and is classed as in need of regeneration economically and socially.

History

In 1160 the Parish of Ballingry and Auchterderran belonged to the Barony of Lochore. A church was built in the area to attend to the needs of the people. In 1561 Peter Watson was sent to minister to the people of Ballingry. Rev Jamie obtained most facts from old Kirk Session Records, fourteen volumes in various sizes were discovered. These minutes go back to 1669. It is believed that Ballingry is one of the oldest Parishes in Scotland. The present church building dates from 1831. Following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, plans went into effect to create a settlement to house the population drawn to this part of Fife by the opportunities created by what was then an expanding coal industry.

Toponymy

The name Ballingry may come from the

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 ...

''baile iongrach'', meaning "oozing estate", possibly from the springs on the slopes above the town.\It may also be 'the village of Jesus (or, the church') or something similar, in that the name is a combination of the Gaelic 'Ball', or village, and 'INRI' for 'Jesus'.

Schools

It has a large primary school, Benarty Primary School, as well as a smaller

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

primary school, St Kenneth's, one of seven feeder schools to St. Columba's Roman Catholic High School in

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; , ) is a city, parish, and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. Dunfermline was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of Scotland between the 11th and 15th centuries. The earliest ...

Facilities

Opened in October 2012 to replace a number of facilities in Ballingry, Lochore and Crosshill, the Benarty Centre houses contains Fife Council offices, a library, childcare and catering facilities, a computer suite, gym, meeting room and café. Ballingry is also located very close to Lochore Meadows Country Park which includes the loch itself, as well as a large park for children, a canoe club and a 9-hole golf course. The village had its own junior football team, Ballingry Rovers FC which dissolved in late 2014 after 62 years, they played as part of the East Region Junior League. The village has four shops, a chemist, two pubs (The Craigie and the Cleik), a bookmakers, Chinese and Indian takeaways and two chip shops.

Transport

Stagecoach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...

operates the 19 service between Ballingry and Rosyth which runs through Lochore, Crosshill, Glencraig, Lochgelly, Lumphinans,

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath () is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 1890. According to a 20 ...

, Hill of Beath, Crossgates, Halbeath and

, operating at up to every ten minutes on week days and Saturdays. The 34 service runs between Ballingry and

Kirkcaldy Kirkcaldy ( ; ; ) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, making it Fife's second-largest s ...

.The 81 service operates hourly between Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline and Glenrothes, with stops in between in Cowdenbeath and Ballingry. The nearest railway station is Lochgelly, with services to Dunfermline, Edinburgh, Kinghorn, Burntisland, Glenrothes and Kirkcaldy.

Notable people

*Singer-songwriter and filmmaker Richard Jobson *Footballer Doug Rougvie *Rock’n’Roll/Punk band Paris Street Rebels * Michael Nardone * John George, a miner who became a Unionist MP. *

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Literary realism, Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry ...

was minister here from 1774 to 1784

References

{{Authority control Towns in Fife Parishes in Fife Mining communities in Fife