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Rosyth

Coordinates: 56°02′02″N 3°25′56″W / 56.03388°N 3.43226°W / 56.03388; -3.43226
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Rosyth
Town and Garden City
Photo of Rosyth Dockyard.
Rosyth is located in Fife
Rosyth
Rosyth
Location within Fife
Area3.2 sq mi (8.3 km2)
Population13,570 (2022)[1]
• Density4,241/sq mi (1,637/km2)
OS grid referenceNT108831
• Edinburgh10.5 mi (16.9 km) S
• London340 mi (550 km) S
Council area
Lieutenancy area
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townDUNFERMLINE
Postcode districtKY11
Dialling code01383
PoliceScotland
FireScottish
AmbulanceScottish
UK Parliament
Scottish Parliament
List of places
UK
Scotland
56°02′02″N 3°25′56″W / 56.03388°N 3.43226°W / 56.03388; -3.43226

Rosyth /rəˈsaɪθ/ ⓘ (Scottish Gaelic: Ros Fhìobh, "headland of Fife")[2] is a town and Garden City in Fife, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth.

Scotland's first Garden City,[3] Rosyth is part of the Greater Dunfermline Area and is located 3 miles south of Dunfermline city centre and 10.5 miles northwest of Edinburgh city centre. To the west of Rosyth lies Limekilns village; to the east lies Inverkeithing town.

Rosyth was founded in 1909 along with Rosyth naval dockyard, built as the coastal port of Dunfermline.[4] Rosyth is near the narrowest crossing point of the Firth of Forth, so has long been strategically important, evidenced by the 15th century Rosyth Castle. Rosyth is home to 12 Historic Scotland listed buildings[5] as well as sections of long distance footpaths the Fife Coastal Path and the Fife Pilgrim Way.[6][7]

Today, Rosyth is a suburb commuter town of Edinburgh and Dunfermline.[8] Rosyth railway station is on the Fife Circle Line and the town is bypassed by the M90 motorway. Rosyth has a population of 13,570 (2022), making the town the 5th largest in Fife.[9]

Governance

[edit]

Rosyth is within the Cowdenbeath constituency of the Scottish Parliament,[10] currently held by Annabelle Ewing of the Scottish National Party,[11] as well as the Mid Scotland and Fife electoral region.

For the UK Parliament, Rosyth is located in the Dunfermline and Dollar constituency and is represented by Graeme Downie of the Labour Party, who won election in the 2024 General Election.

Rosyth has three representatives on Fife Council: Brian Goodall (Scottish National Party), Tony Jackson (Scottish National Party) and Andrew Verrecchia (Labour Party).

Dockyard and Military

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Rosyth is best known for its large Naval dockyard, formerly the Royal Naval Dockyard Rosyth. The town was planned as a garden city with accommodation for the construction workers and dockyard workers. Today, the dockyard is almost 2.2 square kilometres (0.85 sq mi) in size, a large proportion of which was reclaimed during construction.

Picture of Rosyth Dockyard - HMS Queen Elizabeth

Rosyth, Inverkeithing and nearby Charlestown were major centres of shipbreaking activity, notably the salvage of much of the German fleet scuttled at Gutter Sound, Scapa Flow,[12] the Cunard Line's RMS Mauretania, and the White Star Line's RMS Olympic.

The associated military naval base closed in 1994, and no Royal Navy ships are permanently based at Rosyth, though some ships now return for docking and refit activities, including Sandown-class minehunters and Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers.

Rosyth's dockyards became the first in the Royal Navy to be privatised when Babcock International acquired the site in 1987. The privatisation followed almost eighty years of contribution to the defence of the United Kingdom which spanned two World Wars and the Cold War with the Soviet Union, during which Rosyth became a key nuclear submarine maintenance establishment.

When the final submarine refit finished in 2003, a project to undertake early nuclear decommissioning of the submarine refit and allied facilities – Project RD83 – began pre-planning. The project was funded by Ministry of Defence, in accordance with the contractual agreement in place following the sale of the dockyard, but management and sub-contracting was the responsibility of the dockyard owner, Babcock Engineering Services. The main decommissioning sub-contractor was Edmund Nuttall Limited.

Work began in 2006 and was finished in 2010. The project completed ahead of programme and under-budget, which is unusual in nuclear decommissioning activities. Notably some nuclear liabilities do remain at Rosyth Dockyard.

The dockyard was the site for final assembly of the two Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers for the Royal Navy's future carrier project.

Rosyth Castle

Military installations

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A number of Ministry of Defence establishments and military bases are located both in and around the Naval dockyard at Rosyth.

In November 2016 the UK Government announced that MoD Caledonia would close in 2022.[13] On 1 April 2023 it was renamed HMS Caledonia and its future is assured.[14]

There are Sea, Army and Air Cadets located in Rosyth. The Sea and Air cadets are located in the Naval Dockyard inside HMS Caledonia, whereas the Army cadets is located next to Park Road Primary School on Middlebank Street.

[edit]
Main article: Rosyth - Zeebrugge ferry service

Starting in 2002, an overnight ferry service linked Rosyth with Zeebrugge in Belgium. This service was discontinued by Superfast Ferries in September 2008, but recommenced in May 2009 under new operator Norfolkline.[15] They ran three sailings a week in each direction.

Norfolkline was taken over by DFDS Seaways, who subsequently reduced the service to freight-only, three sailings a week in each direction.[16] The service was terminated in 2018 following a fire aboard one of the ships.[17]

In June 2022, it was reported that talks were underway to restore the ferry route, with DFDS operating a freight service from early 2023, with passenger service expected by summer 2023, however as of 2024 this is yet to start. [18]

Building Rosyth

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Garden-city style houses in Admiralty Road, Rosyth.
Garden-city style houses in Admiralty Road, Rosyth. Built by the SNHC.
Houses in Rosyth

The fifteenth century Rosyth Castle stands on the perimeter of the dockyard complex, at the entry to the ferry terminal, and was once surrounded by the Firth of Forth on almost all sides, until land reclamation by the docks in the early 1900s.

The Scottish National Housing Company (SNHC) was a public utility company set up in 1915 to provide houses for employees at Rosyth naval dockyard; shares were taken by Dunfermline town council with the Public Works Loan Board lending the money.[19] Work on building housing for the dockyard workers had been delayed due to disagreements between the Admiralty and Dunfermline council about who should take financial responsibility (1909-15).[20] Some workers were accommodated in temporary huts called East and West Bungalow village and nicknamed 'tin town'.[21]

From the first proposals for a new settlement at Rosyth, it was suggested it should be developed along Garden City lines.[22] The town planning scheme was passed in 1915 and the first houses were occupied in 1916.[19][4] Raymond Unwin was appointed advisor to the Admiralty. Rosyth became the largest of the permanent First World War housing schemes in Scotland.[4] Unwin's assistant Alfred Hugh Mottram worked on the layout and became the SNHC's main architect, designing over 1,400 cottage-style houses.[23] Mottram also designed the B-listed Rosyth Parish Church (1930).[24][25]

B-listed Rosyth parish church designed for the Garden suburb by Hugh A Mottram in 1930.
B-listed Rosyth parish church designed for the Garden suburb by Hugh A Mottram in 1930.

Economic redevelopment

[edit]

Scottish Enterprise Fife is now working in partnership with various private sector organisations to explore the future development of Rosyth. The agency is looking at ways to expand the ferry services to other European and domestic ports. It also wants to help create new business infrastructure in and around Rosyth – which in turn will bring economic benefits to Fife and beyond.

The main dock area – operated by Forth Ports – is ripe for further development.[needs update] Since opening in 1997, the port has seen rising timber and cargo vessels use the facility. Its warehouse and logistics facilities make an ideal choice for exporters and importers.

A private developer owned site was developed into an £80 million business park – called Rosyth Europarc. More than 13,000 m2 (140,000 sq ft) of office and hi-tech manufacturing have already been developed. Companies like Intelligent Finance and Bank of Scotland are on site. To complement these developments, a new £8.4 million road was built to provide an enhanced link to the nearby M90 motorway.

Transport

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The M90 motorway and A823(M) motorway bypass the town which link Rosyth to Dunfermline, Perth, and Kinross to the north, as well as South Queensferry and Edinburgh to the south.

The main road going through Rosyth is the A985 road which links the town with Inverkeithing, Dalgety Bay to the east as well as the Kincardine Bridge to the west which links the town to Falkirk, Stirling and Glasgow.

There are plans to build a new "Park and Choose" facility in Rosyth next to Rosyth railway station which would allow more bus and train connections as well as take pressure off of Halbeath in Dunfermline and Ferrytoll in Inverkeithing's Park and ride bus stations. It could potentially bring new routes to Rosyth and increase passengers.[26]

Train Connections

[edit]
Rosyth railway station.

There is one Train Station in Rosyth in the extreme north of the town - Rosyth railway station. It is a part of the Fife Circle Line and mainly serves two train routes towards:

Bus Connections

[edit]

There are bus connections connecting Rosyth with various places in Scotland.

Stagecoach Coach and Bus connections to Dunfermline:

  • X51 to Dunfermline
  • X52 to Dunfermline
  • X55 to Dunfermline
  • 7 to Dunfermline
  • 7A to Dunfermline
  • 6A to Dunfermline
  • 7B / 7C / 7D to Kelty via Dunfermline
  • 5 to Duloch Park
  • 19 to Ballingry and Hill o' Beath via Dunfermline[28]

Outside of Dunfermline there are Stagecoach Coach and Bus connections to:

Ember Coaches:

There are Ember Coach busses running all day and all night to Dundee (stops in Kinross and Perth) and Edinburgh as well as Edinburgh Airport at night and sometimes the bus goes all the way to Wallyford. Travellers must book at least 10 minutes before the bus is expected to arrive for the bus to stop in Rosyth at St John & St Columba bus stop.[29]

Education

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There are 4 Primary Schools currently located inside Rosyth as well as a Fife College Campus inside the Dockyard area of Rosyth.

Primary Schools located inside Rosyth:

  • Park Road Primary School
  • King's Road Primary School
  • Camdean Primary School
  • St John's RC Primary School

Currently students from these schools go into Inverkeithing High School after Primary 7, but starting August 2026, students will start to go to the new Rosyth / South West Fife High School which is currently under construction.

There is also a special education school located in the Dockyard called The Bridges Centre.

Rosyth / South West Fife High School

[edit]
Early vision of how the high school might look.

On 11 July 2024, construction for a future high school started in Caledonia Heights, Rosyth to replace the 50 year old Inverkeithing High School in the neighbouring town of Inverkeithing.[30] It is planned to open to students by August 2026. The current name for the school is South West Fife High School however, this could change. It is projected to be able to handle 1,735 students which is more than Inverkeithing High School has enrolled.[31] The school will likely teach students from Rosyth, Inverkeithing, Hillend, Dalgety Bay, North Queensferry, Aberdour, High Valleyfield, and also from Southern Dunfermline.

Sports

[edit]

The town has a rugby union club, Rosyth Sharks, which play in the Caledonia Midlands Three league and a football club Rosyth FC that plays in the East of Scotland Football League.

Notable people

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See also

[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rosyth.

Morthouse – located in the Church of Scotland cemetery.

References

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  1. ^ "Mid-2020 Population Estimates for Settlements and Localities in Scotland". National Records of Scotland. 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  2. ^ "Fife Place-name Data :: Rosyth". fife-placenames.glasgow.ac.uk.
  3. ^ Bennett, Gabriella (7 April 2024). "Rosyth's garden city blooms again". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  4. ^ a b c Rosenburg, Louis Stanley (2016). Scotland's Homes fit for Heroes : Garden City influences on the development of Scottish working class housing 1900 to 1939. Edinburgh. pp. 144–149. ISBN 9780993054426. OCLC 1311142179.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  5. ^ "Listed Buildings in Rosyth Ward, Fife". britishlistedbuildings.co.uk. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  6. ^ "Fife Coastal Path 1: Kincardine to North Queensferry". Walkhighlands. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  7. ^ "Fife Pilgrim Way". Fife Walking. 8 February 2022. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  8. ^ "Rosyth | Understanding Scottish Places". www.usp.scot. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  9. ^ "National Records of Scotland". 31 May 2013.
  10. ^ "Cowdenbeath constituency map" (PDF). Boundary commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 December 2011. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
  11. ^ "Annabelle Ewing MSP". The Scottish Parliament. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  12. ^ Buxton, Ian L. (1992). Metal Industries: shipbreaking at Rosyth and Charlestown. World Ship Society. p. 104. OCLC 28508051. Ships scrapped there include the Mauretania and much of the German Fleet at Scapa Flow. Ships listed with owners and dates sold.
  13. ^ "BBC News – Eight military bases in Scotland to close". BBC.co.uk. 7 November 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  14. ^ "Rosyth site secure after transfer back to Royal Navy". Royal Navy. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
  15. ^ "Zeebrugge ferry to restart in May". BBC News. 18 December 2008. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
  16. ^ "Rosyth – Zeebrugge | Routes & Schedules – DFDS". Freight.dfdsseaways.com. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
  17. ^ "Rosyth to Zeebrugge ferry service axed". 23 April 2018.
  18. ^ "Ferry between Scotland and continental Europe set to resume in 2023". STV News. 16 June 2022. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  19. ^ a b "Rosyth Town Planning Scheme". The Scotsman. 31 July 1915. p. 12.
  20. ^ Swenarton, Mark (1981). Homes fit for heroes : the politics and architecture of early state housing in Britain. London: Heinemann Educational Books. pp. 44–47. ISBN 0-435-32994-4. OCLC 7987677.
  21. ^ Begg, Tom (1987). 50 special years : a study in Scottish housing. Scottish Special Housing Administration. London: H. Melland. pp. 44–46. ISBN 0-907929-14-1. OCLC 23901309.
  22. ^ JKW (24 October 2022). "Rosyth Garden town". The Past and other Places. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  23. ^ "Dictionary of Scottish Architects - DSA Architect Biography Report (November 2, 2022, 2:42 pm)". www.scottisharchitects.org.uk. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  24. ^ "Queensferry Road, Rosyth Parish Church". Historic Environment Scotland. 10 March 2000. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  25. ^ sct-admin (24 September 2017). "Rosyth Parish Church". Scotlands Churches Trust. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  26. ^ "Next scheme arriving could be the park and choose at Rosyth train station". Dunfermline Press. 15 April 2021. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  27. ^ "Train Tickets | Times & Timetables | Fares in Scotland | ScotRail". www.buytickets.scotrail.co.uk. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  28. ^ a b "Stagecoach Open Data". Stagecoach. 13 September 2024.
  29. ^ "Map". www.ember.to. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  30. ^ "First shovel in the ground for new SW Fife High School". Fife Council. 11 July 2024. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  31. ^ "South and West Fife High School | Projects". AHR. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
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