Pittencrieff Park

Pittencrieff Park
Louise Carnegie Gates (the main entrance to Pittencrieff Park)
Type	Parkland, woodland, gardens
Location	Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland
Coordinates	56°04′05″N 3°27′59″W / 56.0681°N 3.4664°W / 56.0681; -3.4664Coordinates: 56°04′05″N 3°27′59″W / 56.0681°N 3.4664°W / 56.0681; -3.4664
Created	1903
Operated by	Fife Council
Status	Open all year

Pittencrieff Park (known locally as "The Glen") is a public park in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. It was purchased in 1902 by the town's most famous son, Andrew Carnegie, and given to the people of Dunfermline in a ceremony the following year. Its lands include the historically significant and topologically rugged glen which interrupts the centre of Dunfermline and, accordingly, part of the intention of the purchase was to carry out civic development of the area in a way which also respected its heritage. The project notably attracted the attention of the urban planner and educationalist, Patrick Geddes.

The glen is an area of topographical and historical significance to Dunfermline as the original site of Malcolm's Tower, the probable remains of which can be identified today on a strongly defendable outcrop of rock. To the eastern side of the park is Dunfermline Palace with Dunfermline Abbey and to the west it overlooks the village of Crossford.

The lands of the modern park were previously known as Pittencrieff Estate. In 1902, Andrew Carnegie purchased both Pittencrieff House and Estate from its then owner, Colonel James Maitland Hunt, ultimately with the intention of giving these to the people of Dunfermline. The official donation ceremony occurred the following year, and a trust fund in honour of the benefactory, known as Dunfermline Carnegie Trust, was founded for the general maintenance of the glen.

As part of the donation of the estate, the Dunfermline Carnegie Trust invited proposals for the development of the area as a civic space. Two entries were submitted in 1903-04, one of which was by the world-renowned urban planner, naturalist and educationalist Patrick Geddes (1854–1932). His thinking about the commission, as he saw it, to balance preservation of heritage with regeneration, was an important influence in the formation of his ideas in town planning and civic renaissance. The second entry was by the landscape designer, Thomas Mawson. Although neither scheme was adopted, both influenced subsequent work on the establishment of the park as it exists today.