Culross is a 17th century formal Royal burgh in Fife, just a short trip outside of Edinburgh. One of the added benefits is that it brings you over one of the newest Forth Bridges that cross the Firth of Forth.
Culross offers a Mercat Cross, cobblestone streets, a tolbooth, and narrow wynds (alleys). The town is situated on the muddy shores of the Forth. It once exported coal and salt and even had a trade monopoly in the manufacture of baking girdles (griddles). Culross’s fortunes changed when the coal in the area was exhausted, causing other towns in the area to prosper while Culross remained somewhat frozen in time, a sort of ghost town. Victorian developments and more modern architecture never replaced the 17th and 18th century merchant houses.
In the 1930s, the National Trust for Scotland bought the decaying historically significant properties, including Sir Bruce of Carnock’s Culross Palace from the 1590s, a Study, and Culross Town House. The Cistercian House of Culross Abbey founded in 1217 is also a short walk from the town center.
