North Queensferry
Encyclopedia
North Queensferry is a village in Fife
, Scotland
, on the Firth of Forth
, between the Forth Bridge and the Forth Road Bridge
, and 10 miles (16.1 km) from Edinburgh
. According to the 2008 population estimate, the village has a population of 1,150. It is the southernmost settlement in Fife
.
The Scottish Gaelic name "Taobh a Tuath Chas Chaolais" means "[the] Northern Side of Steep Strait". The name "Cas Chaolas" (Steep Strait) is older than the English name; it can be applied to either North or South Queensferry or both together and this usage is therefore not directly equatable with English usage of the name "Queensferry", which refers only to South Queensferry.
, the wife of King Malcolm III of Scotland
, who is said to have established the village to ensure there would be regular ferry
crossings across the Firth of Forth for the benefit of pilgrim
s travelling to St Andrews
. Margaret is said to have made her arrival in Scotland here in 1068, and to have regularly used the ferry crossing when travelling between the then capital Dunfermline, and Edinburgh Castle
. From around this time, the crossing became known as the Queen's Ferry.
Margaret died in 1093 and made her final journey by ferry to Dunfermline Abbey
, where she remains buried. Her son, David I of Scotland
, awarded the ferry rights to the abbey
.
However, it is likely that there was a settlement around the present site of the village long before the time of Margaret. The site of the village, on the narrowest part of the Firth of Forth, with added advantage of the island of Inchgarvie
in between, suggests that it would have been the natural point of crossing and a vital link to the north of Scotland for centuries before the Queen's Ferry was established.
North Queensferry over the centuries remained a small community, with a population of probably no more than 600, and it never achieved the status of burgh
like many of the nearby settlements. Yet the numbers passing through the village daily were huge. From noblemen to commoners, from King
s to cattle
, all had to use the Queen's Ferry to cross the Forth. It is recorded that Mary, Queen of Scots used the ferry on the day she was transported to Loch Leven Castle
where she was imprisoned in 1565.
In 1651, during Oliver Cromwell
's campaign against Scottish royalist forces, the decisive engagement known as the Battle of Inverkeithing
took place on and around the isthmus
between the North Queensferry peninsula and Inverkeithing
and Rosyth
. The battle gave Cromwell control of Fife and the Firth of Forth. Troops of the New Model Army
under Major-General John Lambert
crossed the Forth from Leith
over several days. They landed at Cruickness, the point to the south of Inverkeithing Inner Bay, and took up position on the Ferry Hills. On 20th July as they moved north across the isthmus they were attacked by the royalist forces under David Leslie. Fighting spread as far as Pitreavie on the far side of Inverkeithing and was said to have been particularly bloody: reputedly the Pinkerton Burn ran red with blood for days and the heaps of the dead resembled stooks in a harvest field. Lambert was victorious and claimed his men had killed 2000 and taken 1,400 prisoners, although these may be exaggerations. It is believed that the destruction of the Chapel of St James by Cromwell's men took place at this time. In the 18th century, the chapel ground became a cemetery for members of the North Queensferry Sailors’ Society.
The Town Pier, the main ferry terminus for many years, was designed by John Rennie and built between 1810 and 1813. The Harbour Light Tower was built in 1817; until then, the Signal House was used by boats as an aid to navigation. Ferries berthed both at the Town Pier and at the Battery Pier (now beneath the Forth Bridge). To accommodate the deeper draughts of the new, larger steam-powered ferries, Thomas Telford extended Town Pier in 1828 to its present length. The Railway Pier, on the far side of West Bay, was the terminus of the new Dunfermline-North Queensferry Railway which opened in the 1870s.
The ferry's importance diminished during the 19th century, with an alternative ferry crossing operating for a while between Burntisland
and Granton
. By the 1870s there was an increasing call for a bridge to be built over the Forth. The idea of a bridge across the Forth had been debated frequently in the past, but the depth of the water and the hard whinstone
rock base found underneath had discouraged any attempts. Work on a bridge for rail traffic eventually began in 1883, under the supervision of Benjamin Baker and John Fowler. The construction of the bridge would alter life in North Queensferry drastically. At its peak, the construction of the bridge employed over 4,000 men.
The Forth Bridge was opened on 4 March 1890, by the then Duke of Rothesay
(later to become King Edward VII
). North Queensferry railway station
opened the same year. The ferry crossing continued however, and with the coming of the motor vehicle in the 20th century, its importance was restored. By 1960, the Queen's Ferry was handling over two million passengers a year and over 600,000 motor vehicles. Naturally, this number was ever increasing and it soon became apparent that another bridge would be required.
The last ever commercial ferry crossing of the Queen's Ferry left Hawes Pier, South Queensferry
on the evening of 3 September 1964, and docked at North Queensferry shortly after. The very next day, HM The Queen
opened the new Forth Road Bridge
, and 800 years continual use of the Queen's Ferry were finally brought to a close.
Westminster constituency, currently held by Thomas Docherty
MP for the Labour Party
. For the Scottish Parliament
North Queensferry forms part of the Cowdenbeath
constituency which falls within the Mid Scotland and Fife electoral region. The constituency is represented by Helen Eadie
for the Labour Party
.
It is also represented on Fife Council by Keith Legg (Scottish Liberal Democrats
), Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party
) and Pat Callaghan (Scottish Labour Party
.)
North Queensferry has an active Community Council.
, is Deep Sea World
, one of the largest and most popular public aquariums in the United Kingdom
which was opened in 1993. It boasts impressive displays of local and exotic sealife.
The oldest inhabited house in the village, at one time the Black Cat Inn, is in Main Street opposite the late Georgian
Albert Hotel. In the early 20th century a tunnel was found beneath the floorboards leading towards the sea. The oldest building in the village is the nearby early 14th century Chapel of St James ('the Greater' - patron saint of pilgrims) founded by Robert the Bruce around 1320-23, abandoned after the Reformation
and believed to have been destroyed by Parliamentarian
troops in 1651. Very little remains standing. The graveyard walls carry an inscription: THIS IS DONE BY THE SAILERS IN NORTH FERRIE 1752.
Houses in Main Street and Post Office Lane are dated 1693 and 1776; Brae House and White House, also in Main Street, are dated 1771 and 1778 and have a sundial
at first floor level. On Pierhead stands the small hexagonal Light Tower built in 1817 and now restored, marking the old ferry pier. Nearby, the octagonal, castellated Signal House (or Tower House) is the old ferry office. In the 19th century, people awaiting a ferry sheltered on the ground floor of this building and the Superintendent of the Queensferry Passage had his office on the floor above.
The Waterloo
Memorial in Main Street is a bell-shaped stone gable carved with an anchored ship and dated 1816. It stands in front of the Waterloo Well with its Victorian iron pump and was a watering stop for horses. There are other wells at the side of Main Street by West Sands and on The Brae. Also on The Brae are pantiled cottages with forestairs, and the Old Schoolhouse, built in 1827. At the station, a large mosaic mural (1990) by local people including children from the nearby primary school marks the centenary of the opening of the rail bridge.
Along a drive off the road out of the village towards Rosyth is a neo-Georgian house called St Margaret's Hope. The name comes from the nearby bay, now partially reclaimed, where St. Margaret
(with her brother Edgar the Ætheling and other members of her family) supposedly landed in 1068 while fleeing the English court. The house was built during the First World War to house the admiral
commanding the Royal Navy
in Scotland. On the driveway is an arch thought to date from the 19th century but containing 16th century panels decorated with the arms of the Napiers of Wrightshouse.
, field gentian and bloody cranesbill are all found here, along with some notable species of millipede and centipede. The reserve is also a good place to observe sea birds; fulmar
s nest on the old quarry cliffs at the north side of the reserve. Killer whales or orcas have been known to come up the Firth of Forth as far as Queensferry and have been observed from the coastal path which passes through the reserve.
, where sand and gravel extraction is carried out. The Ferryhills Road, which leads out of the village towards Inverkeithing
, skirts the edge of this huge quarry and there is a viewing point at the quarry's south west corner. The stone is whinstone, or dolerite, an extremely hard igneous rock which has been quarried in the area since the 1820s. Stone from this area was used to build the docks at Leith and Liverpool
as well as many of the pavements of London
. The pool occupied by Deep Sea World is an old whinstone quarry.
, both have traditional bars and each also has a small restaurant. In Main Street can be found a coffee shop (Blether by the Bridge), due to re-open in 2011, and a small, family-run establishment called the Wee Restaurant, which has been awarded a Michelin Guide
'Bib Gourmand' and was named best eating place in Scotland by The Independent
.
Near the station are the village primary school (a large red sandstone Grade B listed Art Nouveau building dating from 1912 to 1914), a small general store and a community centre (all in Brock Street). The church, on Ferryhills Road, is twinned with the community of Hohoe
in Ghana
.
Based on Pierhead, Calypso Marine/Forth Sea Safaris provide boat tours including excursions to the Forth Islands, wildlife trips and diving expeditions. North Queensferry Boat Club was formed in 1953 and currently operates from the Old Ferry Pier.
North Queensferry is at the southern and western end of the long-distance Fife Coastal Path
. The path starts at the Waterloo Memorial at the foot of the Brae and heads along the coast via Carlingnose and Port Laing, a cove with a sandy beach and steep wooded slopes, to Inverkeithing
, on to Dalgety Bay
and Aberdour
, and through Kirkcaldy
, the East Neuk
villages and Fife Ness
eventually as far as Newport-on-Tay
.
, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
, has lived in the village for more than 20 years. Iain Banks
, the acclaimed author, was brought up in North Queensferry. After a spell living elsewhere, he returned to the village in the early 1990s. Ian Jack
, a noted journalist who was a co-founder of the Independent on Sunday newspaper, was also raised in North Queensferry and still has family who live in the village. Jason Byrne
, comedian, moved to the village from Dublin in 2005.
Fife
Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, on the Firth of Forth
Firth of Forth
The Firth of Forth is the estuary or firth of Scotland's River Forth, where it flows into the North Sea, between Fife to the north, and West Lothian, the City of Edinburgh and East Lothian to the south...
, between the Forth Bridge and the Forth Road Bridge
Forth Road Bridge
The Forth Road Bridge is a suspension bridge in east central Scotland. The bridge, opened in 1964, spans the Firth of Forth, connecting the capital city Edinburgh, at South Queensferry, to Fife, at North Queensferry...
, and 10 miles (16.1 km) from Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. According to the 2008 population estimate, the village has a population of 1,150. It is the southernmost settlement in Fife
Fife
Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...
.
The Scottish Gaelic name "Taobh a Tuath Chas Chaolais" means "[the] Northern Side of Steep Strait". The name "Cas Chaolas" (Steep Strait) is older than the English name; it can be applied to either North or South Queensferry or both together and this usage is therefore not directly equatable with English usage of the name "Queensferry", which refers only to South Queensferry.
History
The village takes its name from Saint Margaret of ScotlandSaint Margaret of Scotland
Saint Margaret of Scotland , also known as Margaret of Wessex and Queen Margaret of Scotland, was an English princess of the House of Wessex. Born in exile in Hungary, she was the sister of Edgar Ætheling, the short-ruling and uncrowned Anglo-Saxon King of England...
, the wife of King Malcolm III of Scotland
Malcolm III of Scotland
Máel Coluim mac Donnchada , was King of Scots...
, who is said to have established the village to ensure there would be regular ferry
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
crossings across the Firth of Forth for the benefit of pilgrim
Pilgrim
A pilgrim is a traveler who is on a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journeying to some place of special significance to the adherent of a particular religious belief system...
s travelling to St Andrews
St Andrews
St Andrews is a university town and former royal burgh on the east coast of Fife in Scotland. The town is named after Saint Andrew the Apostle.St Andrews has a population of 16,680, making this the fifth largest settlement in Fife....
. Margaret is said to have made her arrival in Scotland here in 1068, and to have regularly used the ferry crossing when travelling between the then capital Dunfermline, and Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle is a fortress which dominates the skyline of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, from its position atop the volcanic Castle Rock. Human habitation of the site is dated back as far as the 9th century BC, although the nature of early settlement is unclear...
. From around this time, the crossing became known as the Queen's Ferry.
Margaret died in 1093 and made her final journey by ferry to Dunfermline Abbey
Dunfermline Abbey
Dunfermline Abbey is as a Church of Scotland Parish Church located in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. In 2002 the congregation had 806 members. The minister is the Reverend Alastair Jessamine...
, where she remains buried. Her son, David I of Scotland
David I of Scotland
David I or Dabíd mac Maíl Choluim was a 12th-century ruler who was Prince of the Cumbrians and later King of the Scots...
, awarded the ferry rights to the abbey
Abbey
An abbey is a Catholic monastery or convent, under the authority of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community.The term can also refer to an establishment which has long ceased to function as an abbey,...
.
However, it is likely that there was a settlement around the present site of the village long before the time of Margaret. The site of the village, on the narrowest part of the Firth of Forth, with added advantage of the island of Inchgarvie
Inchgarvie
Inchgarvie is a small, uninhabited island in the Firth of Forth. Its name comes from Innis Garbhach which is Scottish Gaelic for "rough island"...
in between, suggests that it would have been the natural point of crossing and a vital link to the north of Scotland for centuries before the Queen's Ferry was established.
North Queensferry over the centuries remained a small community, with a population of probably no more than 600, and it never achieved the status of burgh
Burgh
A burgh was an autonomous corporate entity in Scotland and Northern England, usually a town. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when King David I created the first royal burghs. Burgh status was broadly analogous to borough status, found in the rest of the United...
like many of the nearby settlements. Yet the numbers passing through the village daily were huge. From noblemen to commoners, from King
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...
s to cattle
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
, all had to use the Queen's Ferry to cross the Forth. It is recorded that Mary, Queen of Scots used the ferry on the day she was transported to Loch Leven Castle
Loch Leven Castle
Loch Leven Castle is a ruined castle on an island in Loch Leven, in the Perth and Kinross local authority area of Scotland. Possibly built around 1300, the castle was the location military action during the Wars of Scottish Independence...
where she was imprisoned in 1565.
In 1651, during Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
's campaign against Scottish royalist forces, the decisive engagement known as the Battle of Inverkeithing
Battle of Inverkeithing
The Battle of Inverkeithing was a battle of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It was fought on 20 July 1651 between an English Parliamentarian army under John Lambert and a Scottish Covenanter army acting on behalf of Charles II, led by Sir John Brown of Fordell. Lambert's force was a seaborne...
took place on and around the isthmus
Isthmus
An isthmus is a narrow strip of land connecting two larger land areas usually with waterforms on either side.Canals are often built through isthmuses where they may be particularly advantageous to create a shortcut for marine transportation...
between the North Queensferry peninsula and Inverkeithing
Inverkeithing
Inverkeithing is a town and a royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, located on the Firth of Forth. According to population estimates , the town has a population of 5,265. The port town was given burgh status by King David I of Scotland in the 12th century and is situated about 9 miles north from...
and Rosyth
Rosyth
Rosyth is a town located on the Firth of Forth, three miles south of the centre of Dunfermline. According to an estimate taken in 2008, the town has a population of 12,790....
. The battle gave Cromwell control of Fife and the Firth of Forth. Troops of the New Model Army
New Model Army
The New Model Army of England was formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War, and was disbanded in 1660 after the Restoration...
under Major-General John Lambert
John Lambert (general)
John Lambert was an English Parliamentary general and politician. He fought during the English Civil War and then in Oliver Cromwell's Scottish campaign , becoming thereafter active in civilian politics until his dismissal by Cromwell in 1657...
crossed the Forth from Leith
Leith
-South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river....
over several days. They landed at Cruickness, the point to the south of Inverkeithing Inner Bay, and took up position on the Ferry Hills. On 20th July as they moved north across the isthmus they were attacked by the royalist forces under David Leslie. Fighting spread as far as Pitreavie on the far side of Inverkeithing and was said to have been particularly bloody: reputedly the Pinkerton Burn ran red with blood for days and the heaps of the dead resembled stooks in a harvest field. Lambert was victorious and claimed his men had killed 2000 and taken 1,400 prisoners, although these may be exaggerations. It is believed that the destruction of the Chapel of St James by Cromwell's men took place at this time. In the 18th century, the chapel ground became a cemetery for members of the North Queensferry Sailors’ Society.
The Town Pier, the main ferry terminus for many years, was designed by John Rennie and built between 1810 and 1813. The Harbour Light Tower was built in 1817; until then, the Signal House was used by boats as an aid to navigation. Ferries berthed both at the Town Pier and at the Battery Pier (now beneath the Forth Bridge). To accommodate the deeper draughts of the new, larger steam-powered ferries, Thomas Telford extended Town Pier in 1828 to its present length. The Railway Pier, on the far side of West Bay, was the terminus of the new Dunfermline-North Queensferry Railway which opened in the 1870s.
The ferry's importance diminished during the 19th century, with an alternative ferry crossing operating for a while between Burntisland
Burntisland
Burntisland is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland on the Firth of Forth. According to an estimate taken in 2008, the town has a population of 5,940....
and Granton
Granton, Edinburgh
Granton is a district in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland. Granton forms part of Edinburgh's waterfront along the Firth of Forth and is, historically, an industrial area having a large harbour. Granton is part of Edinburgh's large scale waterfront regeneration programme.-Name:Granton first appears...
. By the 1870s there was an increasing call for a bridge to be built over the Forth. The idea of a bridge across the Forth had been debated frequently in the past, but the depth of the water and the hard whinstone
Whinstone
Whinstone is a term used in the quarrying industry to describe any hard dark-coloured rock. Examples include the igneous rocks basalt and dolerite as well as the sedimentary rock chert....
rock base found underneath had discouraged any attempts. Work on a bridge for rail traffic eventually began in 1883, under the supervision of Benjamin Baker and John Fowler. The construction of the bridge would alter life in North Queensferry drastically. At its peak, the construction of the bridge employed over 4,000 men.
The Forth Bridge was opened on 4 March 1890, by the then Duke of Rothesay
Duke of Rothesay
Duke of Rothesay was a title of the heir apparent to the throne of the Kingdom of Scotland before 1707, of the Kingdom of Great Britain from 1707 to 1801, and now of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland....
(later to become King Edward VII
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
). North Queensferry railway station
North Queensferry railway station
North Queensferry railway station is a railway station in the village of North Queensferry, Fife, Scotland. The station is managed by First ScotRail and is on the Fife Circle Line 18 km north east of Edinburgh Waverley....
opened the same year. The ferry crossing continued however, and with the coming of the motor vehicle in the 20th century, its importance was restored. By 1960, the Queen's Ferry was handling over two million passengers a year and over 600,000 motor vehicles. Naturally, this number was ever increasing and it soon became apparent that another bridge would be required.
The last ever commercial ferry crossing of the Queen's Ferry left Hawes Pier, South Queensferry
South Queensferry
South Queensferry , also called Queensferry, is a former Royal Burgh in West Lothian now part of the City of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located some ten miles to the north west of the city centre, on the shore of the Firth of Forth between the Forth Bridge and the Forth Road Bridge, approximately 8...
on the evening of 3 September 1964, and docked at North Queensferry shortly after. The very next day, HM The Queen
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
opened the new Forth Road Bridge
Forth Road Bridge
The Forth Road Bridge is a suspension bridge in east central Scotland. The bridge, opened in 1964, spans the Firth of Forth, connecting the capital city Edinburgh, at South Queensferry, to Fife, at North Queensferry...
, and 800 years continual use of the Queen's Ferry were finally brought to a close.
Governance
North Queensferry forms part of the Dunfermline and West FifeDunfermline and West Fife (UK Parliament constituency)
Dunfermline and West Fife is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created for the 2005 general election from all of the old Dunfermline West and parts of the old Dunfermline East constituencies...
Westminster constituency, currently held by Thomas Docherty
Thomas Docherty (politician)
Thomas Docherty is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Dunfermline and West Fife since 2010....
MP for the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
. For the Scottish Parliament
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
North Queensferry forms part of the Cowdenbeath
Cowdenbeath (Scottish Parliament constituency)
Cowdenbeath is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the plurality method of election...
constituency which falls within the Mid Scotland and Fife electoral region. The constituency is represented by Helen Eadie
Helen Eadie
Helen Eadie is a Scottish Labour Co-operative politician and has represented Dunfermline East in the Scottish Parliament since 1999.-Background:...
for the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
.
It is also represented on Fife Council by Keith Legg (Scottish Liberal Democrats
Scottish Liberal Democrats
The Scottish Liberal Democrats are one of the three state parties within the federal Liberal Democrats; the others being the Welsh Liberal Democrats and the Liberal Democrats in England...
), Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....
) and Pat Callaghan (Scottish Labour Party
Scottish Labour Party
The Scottish Labour Party is the section of the British Labour Party which operates in Scotland....
.)
North Queensferry has an active Community Council.
Landmarks
One of North Queensferry's biggest attractions today, other than the extensive views it offers of the Forth Bridge and Forth Road BridgeForth Road Bridge
The Forth Road Bridge is a suspension bridge in east central Scotland. The bridge, opened in 1964, spans the Firth of Forth, connecting the capital city Edinburgh, at South Queensferry, to Fife, at North Queensferry...
, is Deep Sea World
Deep Sea World
Deep Sea World is a popular aquarium located in the village of North Queensferry, in Fife, Scotland. It is host to a collection of large sand tiger sharks, also known as ragged toothed sharks or grey nurse sharks, and various other species of shark.-History:...
, one of the largest and most popular public aquariums in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
which was opened in 1993. It boasts impressive displays of local and exotic sealife.
The oldest inhabited house in the village, at one time the Black Cat Inn, is in Main Street opposite the late Georgian
Georgian era
The Georgian era is a period of British history which takes its name from, and is normally defined as spanning the reigns of, the first four Hanoverian kings of Great Britain : George I, George II, George III and George IV...
Albert Hotel. In the early 20th century a tunnel was found beneath the floorboards leading towards the sea. The oldest building in the village is the nearby early 14th century Chapel of St James ('the Greater' - patron saint of pilgrims) founded by Robert the Bruce around 1320-23, abandoned after the Reformation
Reformation
- Movements :* Protestant Reformation, an attempt by Martin Luther to reform the Roman Catholic Church that resulted in a schism, and grew into a wider movement...
and believed to have been destroyed by Parliamentarian
Roundhead
"Roundhead" was the nickname given to the supporters of the Parliament during the English Civil War. Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I and his supporters, the Cavaliers , who claimed absolute power and the divine right of kings...
troops in 1651. Very little remains standing. The graveyard walls carry an inscription: THIS IS DONE BY THE SAILERS IN NORTH FERRIE 1752.
Houses in Main Street and Post Office Lane are dated 1693 and 1776; Brae House and White House, also in Main Street, are dated 1771 and 1778 and have a sundial
Sundial
A sundial is a device that measures time by the position of the Sun. In common designs such as the horizontal sundial, the sun casts a shadow from its style onto a surface marked with lines indicating the hours of the day. The style is the time-telling edge of the gnomon, often a thin rod or a...
at first floor level. On Pierhead stands the small hexagonal Light Tower built in 1817 and now restored, marking the old ferry pier. Nearby, the octagonal, castellated Signal House (or Tower House) is the old ferry office. In the 19th century, people awaiting a ferry sheltered on the ground floor of this building and the Superintendent of the Queensferry Passage had his office on the floor above.
The Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
Memorial in Main Street is a bell-shaped stone gable carved with an anchored ship and dated 1816. It stands in front of the Waterloo Well with its Victorian iron pump and was a watering stop for horses. There are other wells at the side of Main Street by West Sands and on The Brae. Also on The Brae are pantiled cottages with forestairs, and the Old Schoolhouse, built in 1827. At the station, a large mosaic mural (1990) by local people including children from the nearby primary school marks the centenary of the opening of the rail bridge.
Along a drive off the road out of the village towards Rosyth is a neo-Georgian house called St Margaret's Hope. The name comes from the nearby bay, now partially reclaimed, where St. Margaret
Saint Margaret of Scotland
Saint Margaret of Scotland , also known as Margaret of Wessex and Queen Margaret of Scotland, was an English princess of the House of Wessex. Born in exile in Hungary, she was the sister of Edgar Ætheling, the short-ruling and uncrowned Anglo-Saxon King of England...
(with her brother Edgar the Ætheling and other members of her family) supposedly landed in 1068 while fleeing the English court. The house was built during the First World War to house the admiral
Admiral
Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...
commanding the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
in Scotland. On the driveway is an arch thought to date from the 19th century but containing 16th century panels decorated with the arms of the Napiers of Wrightshouse.
Natural Environment
North Queensferry is bounded by two sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs), one being the shoreline of the Firth of Forth, an SSSI for its entire extent on both north and south shores, and the other the Carlingnose Point Nature Reserve. The Forth shoreline is an SSSI both on account of its geology and its biological habitats, such as its mudflats which support numerous species of sea birds, many of which are to be seen and heard in and around North Queensferry. Carlingnose is designated on account of its exceptional plant life. The rare dropwortDropwort
Dropwort , also known as Fern-leaf Dropwort, is a perennial herb of the family Rosaceae closely related to Meadowsweet...
, field gentian and bloody cranesbill are all found here, along with some notable species of millipede and centipede. The reserve is also a good place to observe sea birds; fulmar
Fulmar
Fulmars are seabirds of the family Procellariidae. The family consists of two extant species and two that are extinct.-Taxonomy:As members of Procellaridae and then the order Procellariiformes, they share certain traits. First, they have nasal passages that attach to the upper bill called...
s nest on the old quarry cliffs at the north side of the reserve. Killer whales or orcas have been known to come up the Firth of Forth as far as Queensferry and have been observed from the coastal path which passes through the reserve.
Industry
While transport and especially the railways and ferries have been North Queensferry's most obvious industries, one local industry that pre-dated the arrival of the railway and continues to the present is quarrying. In the north east of the peninsula on which North Queensferry stands is Cruiks Quarry, owned by TarmacTarmac (company)
Tarmac is a company that is based in Wolverhampton in the United Kingdom and operates internationally. The company produces aggregates and road-surfacing materials, including tarmacadam, from which the company's name is derived...
, where sand and gravel extraction is carried out. The Ferryhills Road, which leads out of the village towards Inverkeithing
Inverkeithing
Inverkeithing is a town and a royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, located on the Firth of Forth. According to population estimates , the town has a population of 5,265. The port town was given burgh status by King David I of Scotland in the 12th century and is situated about 9 miles north from...
, skirts the edge of this huge quarry and there is a viewing point at the quarry's south west corner. The stone is whinstone, or dolerite, an extremely hard igneous rock which has been quarried in the area since the 1820s. Stone from this area was used to build the docks at Leith and Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
as well as many of the pavements of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. The pool occupied by Deep Sea World is an old whinstone quarry.
Facilities
North Queensferry has three hotels and several bed and breakfast establishments, as well as a number of holiday homes to let. The three-star Queensferry Hotel, adjacent to the road bridge, has 77 rooms and a restaurant with panoramic views across the Forth. In the centre of the village, the picturesque Ferrybridge Hotel and the Albert Hotel, named to commemorate a visit by Queen Victoria and Prince AlbertPrince Albert
Prince Albert was the husband and consort of Queen Victoria.Prince Albert may also refer to:-Royalty:*Prince Albert Edward or Edward VII of the United Kingdom , son of Albert and Victoria...
, both have traditional bars and each also has a small restaurant. In Main Street can be found a coffee shop (Blether by the Bridge), due to re-open in 2011, and a small, family-run establishment called the Wee Restaurant, which has been awarded a Michelin Guide
Michelin Guide
The Michelin Guide is a series of annual guide books published by Michelin for over a dozen countries. The term normally refers to the Michelin Red Guide, the oldest and best-known European hotel and restaurant guide, which awards the Michelin stars...
'Bib Gourmand' and was named best eating place in Scotland by The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
.
Near the station are the village primary school (a large red sandstone Grade B listed Art Nouveau building dating from 1912 to 1914), a small general store and a community centre (all in Brock Street). The church, on Ferryhills Road, is twinned with the community of Hohoe
Hohoe
Hohoe is a town in the mountainous Hohoe Municipality of the Volta Region of Ghana, with its beautiful climate and many tourist attractions like the Wli Waterfalls. It is between Lake Volta and the border of Togo. Hohoe is connected by road to Kpandu and Ho in Ghana; and Kpalimé and Badou in Togo....
in Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
.
Based on Pierhead, Calypso Marine/Forth Sea Safaris provide boat tours including excursions to the Forth Islands, wildlife trips and diving expeditions. North Queensferry Boat Club was formed in 1953 and currently operates from the Old Ferry Pier.
North Queensferry is at the southern and western end of the long-distance Fife Coastal Path
Fife Coastal Path
The Fife Coastal Path is a Scottish long distance footpath that runs from North Queensferry to Newport-on-Tay, near the Tay Bridge. The path was created in 2002 and runs for 82 miles along the coastline of Fife...
. The path starts at the Waterloo Memorial at the foot of the Brae and heads along the coast via Carlingnose and Port Laing, a cove with a sandy beach and steep wooded slopes, to Inverkeithing
Inverkeithing
Inverkeithing is a town and a royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, located on the Firth of Forth. According to population estimates , the town has a population of 5,265. The port town was given burgh status by King David I of Scotland in the 12th century and is situated about 9 miles north from...
, on to Dalgety Bay
Dalgety Bay
Dalgety Bay Today, Dalgety Bay functions largely as a dormitory suburb of Edinburgh and to the rest of Fife. While the architecture of the town reflects construction by volume housebuilders, the town is a regular winner of the Best Kept Small Town title...
and Aberdour
Aberdour
Aberdour is a scenic and historic village on the south coast of Fife, Scotland. It is on the north shore of the Firth of Forth, looking south to the island of Inchcolm and its Abbey, and to Leith and Edinburgh beyond. According to the 2006 population estimate, the village has a population of...
, and through Kirkcaldy
Kirkcaldy
Kirkcaldy is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. The town lies on a shallow bay on the northern shore of the Firth of Forth; SSE of Glenrothes, ENE of Dunfermline, WSW of Dundee and NNE of Edinburgh...
, the East Neuk
East Neuk
The East Neuk or East Neuk of Fife is an area of the coast of Fife, Scotland, which is geographically ill-defined but nonetheless stirs local passions....
villages and Fife Ness
Fife Ness
Fife Ness is a headland , forming the most eastern point in Fife. It is situated in the area of Fife known as the East Neuk, and forms the muzzle of the dog-like outline of the latter when viewed on a map....
eventually as far as Newport-on-Tay
Newport-on-Tay
Newport-on-Tay is a small town in the north east of Fife in Scotland, acting as a commuter suburb for Dundee. The Fife Coastal Path passes through Newport.-History:...
.
Notable people
Gordon BrownGordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
, has lived in the village for more than 20 years. Iain Banks
Iain Banks
Iain Banks is a Scottish writer. He writes mainstream fiction under the name Iain Banks, and science fiction as Iain M. Banks, including the initial of his adopted middle name Menzies...
, the acclaimed author, was brought up in North Queensferry. After a spell living elsewhere, he returned to the village in the early 1990s. Ian Jack
Ian Jack
Ian Jack is a Scottish journalist who was the editor of the literary magazine Granta from 1995 to 2007. Granta 98 "The Deep End" was the 48th issue which Jack edited and the last.Jack was educated at Dunfermline High School...
, a noted journalist who was a co-founder of the Independent on Sunday newspaper, was also raised in North Queensferry and still has family who live in the village. Jason Byrne
Jason Byrne (comedian)
Jason Byrne is an Irish comedian born in Ballinteer, Dublin, Ireland. In August 2008, he made his twelfth Edinburgh Fringe Festival appearance and is a regular at the Kilkenny Cat Laughs comedy festival....
, comedian, moved to the village from Dublin in 2005.
External links
- NorthQueensferry.com
- Queensferry Community Council
- North Queensferry Heritage Trust
- Deep Sea World
- The Wee Restaurant
- Ferry Bridge Hotel
- 9 East Bay Bed & Breakfast
- The Albert Hotel & Shoreside Restaurant
- North Queensferry feature page on Undiscovered Scotland http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/queensferry/northqueensferry