HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Kemback (
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 ...
: ''Ceann Bac'') is a village and parish 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, located east of Cupar. The present village was developed in the 19th century to house those working the
flax Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. In 2022, France produced 75% of t ...
mills on the nearby Ceres Burn. From 1681 the minister for the parish was Alexander Edward, until 1689 when he was deprived as a non-juror. He went on to become an
architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
and landscape architect, working on schemes for Brechin Castle and Hamilton Palace. The civil parish has a population of 558 (in 2011).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


History

The name of the village is 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 ...
''Ceann Bac'' meaning 'End of the Corner', from ''ceann'' meaning 'head' or 'end' and ''bac'' meaning 'hindrance', 'bend' or 'corner', particularly in a field used as a shelter for livestock.


Parish Church

The church is dated 1582, making it one of the first Post-Reformation churches in Scotland. The windows were enlarged around 1760. The linked manse dates from around 1610 and was thatched until 1758.Buildings of Scotland: Fife by John Gifford


Transatlantic Radiophone Station

;Kemback G.P.O. Transatlantic Radiophone Station (1927–1950s) In 1927 the General Post Office opened a commercial radiophone service between Kemback and an
AT&T AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...
site in New Jersey, USA. All that remains (2010) is a metal gate into an open field opposite the Kemback graveyard. The field was originally full of wooden huts, and the hill, and surrounding areas in the parish, were covered in aerials. The civilian GPO services were moved when line of sight was needed for television transmissions during the 1950s.


WWII Secret

Access to most of North Fife was restricted. The Kemback Radio Station was a critical link between Britain and the US, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, and Russia. Classed ULTRA secret, the Kemback station was also needed in the event of a retreat from England, and the loss of the transatlantic cables by the British forces and an equivalent Transatlantic RadioPhone site at Rugby, England. Obviously this eventuality was never needed. Wartime records of the Station's use for radio interception as part of the network of Y-stations for German
Enigma machine The Enigma machine is a cipher device developed and used in the early- to mid-20th century to protect commercial, diplomatic, and military communication. It was employed extensively by Nazi Germany during World War II, in all branches of the W ...
transmissions are still restricted, and have not been released into the public domain. It is unclear if the records survive in the National Archives or
Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and Bletchley Park estate, estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes (Buckinghamshire), that became the principal centre of Allies of World War II, Allied World War II cryptography, code-breaking during the S ...
. Several staff based in GPO Kemback were transferred to the Far East in the early days of WW2 to Singapore. Some were captured, and held as prisoners of the Japanese for the remainder of the war.


Medical conditions

The extremely marshy land immediately around the old and new Kemback churches was drained in the 17th and 18th centuries. A local condition called ''The Drop'' or ''The Ague'' is recorded in the histories of the Lairds of Kemback, and the archive of the Archbishop John Spottiswoode(1565–1639) which, although cannot be confirmed, is probably a form of malaria, similar to that seen in the Somerset levels.


References

* *Colvin, Howard (1978) ''A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects'' 1600–1840, James Murray, pp. 282–3 * New York Times, 1927 (subscription required on website) {{authority control Villages in Fife Parishes in Fife