Kinglassie

Kinglassie (Gaelic: Cille MoGhlasaidh) is a small village and parish in central Fife, Scotland. It is located two miles southwest of Glenrothes. In 2011, the population of the village was 1,684.

The civil parish has a population of 22,543 (in 2011).

The village of Kinglassie (pronounced Kin-glassie) lies to the north of the Lochty Burn, two miles (5 km) southwest of Glenrothes in Fife, and two miles southeast of Perth and Kinross district. In 830 AD, the village was known as Kinglace. The village has never been known as Goatmilkshire, though the area northeast of the village has always had that name or Gaitmilkshire. In the year 1231, the village was known as Kinglassin and was in the Lochoreshire area. However, this changed in 1235 when Constantine II of Lochore renounced his claim to the lands in favour of the Abbey of Dunfermline. From this time on, Kinglassie ceased to be part of Lochoreshire. Little of antiquity remains, except for the Dogton Stone, with its Celtic cross, situated in a field about a mile (1.5 km) to the south. For many years, Kinglassie was a weaving village, but in the 19th and 20th centuries it developed as a mining town.

From a very early period through to the Reformation, Scotland was dotted over with certain divisions of lands known as "Schyres." Thus, in the immediate neighbourhood of Kinross were Kynros-Schyre, Portmocke-Schyre, Kinglassy-Schyre, Muchard-Schyre, and Doloure-Schyre. These Schyres must not be confused with the shire of the present day; they were simply divisions of land, similar in extent to an average modern parish.

Kinglassie has a primary school, Mitchell Hall (1896), a library, and the Miners' Welfare Institute (est. 1931). Fife Airport lies about a mile (1.5 km) to the north and, on a hill overlooking the farm of Redwells, stands Blythe's Folly, a 15.6-metre-high (51 ft) tower built in 1812 by an eccentric Leith ship owner. Kinglassie's development during the late 19th and early 20th centuries was marked by its rapid expansion to house mine workers. Many mine workers perished or were injured during the life of the mine. The mine was plagued by water flooding problems. The Kinglassie Pit started in 1908 and closed in 1967. The Westfield open cast coal mine lies to the west of the village and is still regarded as the biggest man-made hole in Europe by local people.

Glastian of Kinglassie B (AC) (also known as Glastian of MacGlastian) was born in Fife, Scotland. He died at Kinglassie (Kinglace), Scotland, in 830. As bishop of Fife, Saint Glastian mediated in the bloody civil war between the Picts and the Scots. When the Picts were subjugated, Glastian did much to alleviate their lot. He is the patron saint of Kinglassie in Fife and is venerated in Kyntire (Benedictines, Husenbeth).

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