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Glenrothes

May 04, 2023

For other uses, see Glenrothes (disambiguation).

Glenrothes (listen (help·info); /ɡlɛnˈrɒθɪs/, glen-ROTH-iss; Scots: Glenrothes; Scottish Gaelic: Gleann Rathais) is a town situated in the heart of Fife, in east-central Scotland. It is about 30 miles (48 km) north of Edinburgh and 30 miles (48 km) south of Dundee. The town had a population of 39,277 in the 2011 census, making it the third largest settlement in Fife and the 18th most populous settlement in Scotland. The name Glenrothes comes from its historical link with the Earl of Rothes, who owned much of the land on which the new town has been built; Glen (Scottish for valley) was added to the name to avoid confusion with Rothes in Moray and in recognition that the town lies in a river valley. The motto of Glenrothes is Ex terra vis, meaning "From the earth strength", which dates back to the founding of the town.

Glenrothes
Administrative centre and town
From top, left to right: Riverside Park pond with road bridge in background, 'Rothes Remembered' sculpture, Glenrothes war memorial and 'The Dream' sculpture, 'Marching Hippos' in Riverside Park, Balbirnie stone circle, 'Good Samaritan' sculpture with view to town centre
Glenrothes
Location within Fife
Area8 sq mi (21 km2)
Population38,360 (mid-2020 est.)[2]
• Density4,795/sq mi (1,851/km2)
OS grid referenceNO281015
• Edinburgh32 mi (51 km)
• London444 mi (715 km)
Council area
Lieutenancy area
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townGLENROTHES
Postcode districtKY6, KY7
Dialling code01592
PoliceScotland
FireScottish
AmbulanceScottish
UK Parliament
Scottish Parliament
List of places
UK
Scotland
56°11′53″N 3°10′41″W / 56.198°N 3.178°W / 56.198; -3.178Coordinates: 56°11′53″N 3°10′41″W / 56.198°N 3.178°W / 56.198; -3.178

Planned in the late 1940s as one of Scotland's first post-second world war new towns, its original purpose was to house miners who were to work at a newly established coal mine, the Rothes Colliery. After the mine closed, the town developed as an important industrial centre playing a major role in developing Scotland's Silicon Glen between 1961 and 2000, with several major electronics and hi-tech companies setting up facilities in the town. The Glenrothes Development Corporation (GDC), a quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisation,[3] was established to develop, manage and promote the new town. The GDC, supported by the local authority, oversaw the governance of Glenrothes until the GDC was wound up in 1995, after which all responsibility was transferred to Fife Council.

Glenrothes is the administrative capital of Fife, containing the headquarters of both Fife Council and Police Scotland Fife Division and is a major service centre within the area. It is also a centre for excellence within the high-tech electronics and manufacturing industry sectors;[4] several organisations have their global headquarters in Glenrothes.[5] Major employers include Bosch Rexroth (hydraulics manufacturing), Fife College (education), Leviton (fibre optics manufacturing) and Raytheon (defence and electronics).[6] Glenrothes is unique in Fife as much of the town centre floorspace is internalised within Fife's largest shopping centre, the Kingdom Shopping Centre. Public facilities include a regional sports and leisure centre, two golf courses, major parks, a civic centre and theatre and a college campus.

The town has won multiple horticultural awards in the Beautiful Scotland and Britain in Bloom contests for the quality of its parks and landscaping. It has numerous outdoor sculptures and artworks, a result of the appointment of town artists in the early development of the town. The A92 trunk road provides the principal access to the town, passing through Glenrothes and connecting it to the wider Scottish motorway and trunk road network. A major bus station is located in the town centre, providing regional and local bus services to surrounding settlements.

History

 
Cadham Village conservation area

Toponymy

The name Rothes comes from the association with the Earl of Rothes, of the Leslie family from Northeast Scotland. This family historically owned much of the land on which Glenrothes has been built, and gave its name to the adjacent village of Leslie. "Glen" (from the Scottish Gaelic word gleann meaning valley) was added to prevent confusion with Rothes in Moray, and to reflect the location of the town within the River Leven valley.[7][8][9]

The different areas ("precincts") of Glenrothes have been named after the hamlets that were already established in the area (e.g. Cadham, Woodside), the farms which formally occupied the land (e.g. Caskieberran, Collydean, Rimbleton) or the historical estate homes in the area (e.g. Balbirnie, Balgeddie, Leslie Parks).[10]

Early Known Settlement

Glenrothes is home to the remains of ancient stone circles which can be seen at Balbirnie[11] and Balfarg[12] in the northeast of the town. The Balfarg henge was constructed around 3,000BC and contains the remnants of a stone circle which has been partly reconstructed.[13] The henge was excavated between 1977 and 1978 prior to the development of a new housing estate.[13] The Balbirnie stone circle and cairn which is only located approximately 500m away from Balfarg was excavated between 1970 and 1971. In order to allow widening of the A92 the stones were moved a short distance to a new location at North Lodge and reconstructed as nearly as possible in the original way.[13] The stone circle has been carbon dated as being from the Bronze Age.[14] It is thought that the Balbrinie stone circle and the Balfarg circle once formed part of a larger ceremonial complex.[13]

 
Balbirnie House Hotel, Balbirnie Park

There are a number of former country houses located in Glenrothes. Balbirnie House, a category-A listed[15] Georgian period building, was bought along with its grounds in 1969 by the GDC from the Balfour family to be developed as Balbirnie Park and golf course.[16][17][18] The house was later occupied and restored by the GDC in 1981, to stop the property falling into disrepair. This led to potential interest and the house was converted into a four-star hotel in 1989. The B-listed former stable block[19] of the house was converted into a craft centre.[16] Balgeddie House, a C-Listed[20] former Edwardian residence of Sir Robert Spencer Nairn located in the northwest of the town, has also been converted into a high quality hotel.[21] Leslie House, the category-A listed[22] 17th century former home of the Earl of Rothes (Clan Leslie), became a care home for the elderly in 1945; owned by the Church of Scotland. The building was in the process of being renovated, when the interior and roof of the house were destroyed by a fire in February 2009. However, proposals to restore the mansion were approved in 2019.[23] Much of the former grounds of Leslie House have been used to create Riverside Park. Collydean precinct hosts a ruin of a 17th-century house called Pitcairn House which was built for and first occupied by Archibald Pitcairne famous Scottish physician.[10]

Glenrothes new town

Glenrothes was designated in 1948 under the New Towns Act 1946 as Scotland's second post-war new town.[24][25][26] The planning, development, management and promotion of the new town was the responsibility of the Glenrothes Development Corporation (GDC), a quango appointed by the Secretary of State for Scotland.[3] The corporation board consisted of eight members including a chairman and deputy chairman.[27] The first meeting of the GDC was in Auchmuty House, provided by Tullis Russell on 20 June 1949.[28][29]

The original plan was to build a new settlement for a population of 32,000 to 35,000. The land which Glenrothes now occupies was largely agricultural, and once contained a number of small rural communities and the hamlets of Cadham[30] and Woodside, which were established to house workers at local paper mills. The original proposals for the new town would have centred it on Markinch; however the village's infrastructure was deemed unable to withstand the substantial growth that would be needed for a new town of the scale proposed and there was considerable local opposition to the plans.[7] Leslie and Thornton were also considered as possible locations, again meeting local opposition, and eventually an area of 5,320 acres (2,153 ha) between all of these villages was zoned for the new town's development.[31] Much of the historical Aytoun, Balfour, Balgonie and Rothes estates were included in Glenrothes' assigned area along with the historical country houses Balbirnie House, Balgeddie House and Leslie House.[32][33]

Unlike the other post-war Scottish new towns of Cumbernauld, East Kilbride, Irvine and Livingston, Glenrothes was not originally to be a Glasgow overspill new town, although it did later take this role. It was however populated in the early 1950s, in part by families moving from the declining coalfield areas of Scotland. It is also the only Scottish new town to not take its name from an existing settlement and in that respect was a completely new settlement.[34]

Industrial history

Before Glenrothes was developed, the main industries in the area were papermaking, coal mining and farming. Local paper manufacturers included the Tullis Russell and Dixons Mills near Markinch in the east and the Fettykil and Prinlaws Mills to the west at Leslie.[35] The papermills established along the banks of the River Leven which provided energy to power their operations.[33]

 
Tullis Russell Papermills in 2010

Scotland had emerged from the Second World War in a strong position both to contribute to the UK's post-war reconstruction, and to help repay heavy overseas debt incurred in rearmament and six years of war. At the heart of government strategy was the need to produce energy, and the first focus of the resulting industrial renewal was massive investment by the state in the Scottish coal industry.[36] The case for developing Glenrothes was partially driven by this strategy, and was further advanced in a report produced in 1946 by Sir Frank Mears to the Central and South-East Scotland Planning Committee. This specifically made the case for a new town in the Leslie-Markinch area to support growth in the coal mining industry in Fife.[9][37]

The Rothes Colliery, the new coal mine associated with the town's development, was built on land to the west of Thornton, an established village south of Glenrothes.[38] The mine, which was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1957, was promoted as a key driver in the economic regeneration of central Fife.[39] However, un-stemmable flooding and geological problems in the area combined with a lessening demand for coal nationally made the mine less viable, and it was closed in 1965.[9] Ironically, miners who had worked in older deep pits in the area had warned against the development of the Rothes pit for this very reason.[40]

On 28 May 1963 Cadco Development Ltd held a press conference in Edinburgh to announce that they were bringing 2,000 jobs to Glenrothes. They were going to take three factories on the Queensway Industrial Estate; open pig breeding units at Whitehill; and build a supermarket in the town centre. Cadco's board of directors included the film star George Sanders and his wife Benita Hume alongside Denis Loraine and Tom Roe (Thomas Chambers Windsor Roe).[41] Denis Loraine soon persuaded the Glenrothes Development Corporation that the construction work should be carried out by Cadco's own building company, which had opened a depot in nearby Kirkcaldy.[42][43]

By May 1964 Cadco were confident that their factories would soon start production, but by October all work had stopped because the Cadco Building Company had not paid its sub-contractors and suppliers. It transpired that Cadco did not have the money to back up its plans; and the banks and small companies who had respectively paid for and done the advance work found themselves out of pocket; and its employees lost their jobs. It turned out that the money the development corporation had paid to Cadco for building work had been used instead to help the failing Royal Victoria Sausages Company in Brighton. When the scam was exposed, the town's MP Willie Hamilton posed questions in the House of Commons and a Board of Trade inquiry was set up. As the hoped-for jobs evaporated, the development corporation, the Royal Bank of Scotland and others involved had to explain to the Board of Trade inspectors how they been taken in by Denis Loraine and Cadco. However no-one was ever prosecuted for their part in the affair in the United Kingdom. Historians speculate that this was because of the involvement, direct and indirect, of people in high places, particularly future Prime Minister, Edward Heath and Hollywood actress Jayne Mansfield. Investors alleged to be compromised by the scandal ranged from novelist Graham Greene to Charlie Chaplin. After the scandal broke, Loraine fled to the United States, only avoiding a long prison sentence by working under cover to help bring to justice those behind the biggest counterfeiting operation in US history.[44]

The closure of the Rothes Colliery almost halted the further development of Glenrothes, but soon afterwards, central government changed the town's role by appointing it as an economic focal point for Central Scotland as part of a Regional Plan for economic growth and development.[45] The Glenrothes Development Corporation were able to use this status to attract a plethora of light industries and modern electronics factories to the town. The first big overseas electronic investor was Beckmans Instruments in 1959, followed by Hughes Industries in the early 1960s.[34] A number of other important companies followed, establishing Glenrothes as a major industrial hub in Scotland's Silicon Glen.[46] In the mid-1970s, the town also replaced Cupar as the HQ of Fife Regional Council, making it the administrative centre of Fife.[3][47][48]

 
ADC electronics plant in 2005

Major industrial estates were developed to the south of Glenrothes, largely because it was near the proposed East Fife Regional Road (A92) which was developed in 1989, giving dual carriageway access to the main central Scotland road network.[45] The rapid growth experienced in Silicon Glen peaked in the 1990s with Canon developing their first UK manufacturing plant at Westwood Park in Glenrothes in 1992.[37] ADC Telecommunications, a major American electronics company, established a base at Bankhead in early 2000 with the promise of a substantial number of jobs.[49] Around the start of the 21st century, a decline in major electronics manufacturing in Scotland affected the town's economy, and thus the industrial base of the town was forced to diversify for the second time in its short history.[50][51] By 2004 both ADC and Canon had closed their Glenrothes operations, with much of the promised jobs growth failing to materialise. This was largely due to the electronics industrial sector in Glenrothes and most of central Scotland being dependent upon an inward investment strategy that led to almost 43% of employment in foreign-owned plants which were susceptible to changes in global economic markets.[52]

Post-New Town History

The GDC was finally wound up in 1995 after which responsibility for Glenrothes was largely transferred to Fife Council with assets such as the Kingdom Shopping Centre, industrial and office units sold off to private sector companies.[25] However, by 1995 the GDC had left a lasting legacy on the town by overseeing the development of over 15,000 houses, 5,174,125 square feet (480,692 m2) of industrial floorspace, 735,476 square feet (68,328 m2) of office floorspace and 576,977 square feet (53,603 m2) of shopping floorspace.[25] Since the winding up of the GDC Glenrothes continues to serve as Fife's principal administrative centre and serves a wider sub-regional area as a major centre for services and employment.[53]

 
Aerial view of Glenrothes taken from southeast

In 2008, coinciding with the town's 60th anniversary, Canadian artist and researcher Sylvia Grace Borda chose to holiday for a week in Glenrothes. She was curious to explore the town as if she were a late-1960s photographer of common places, following on from a similar study of East Kilbride. The outcome was the production of a series of images which the artist believes contradict how some Scots would 'see' Glenrothes, reinforcing the observation that it often takes a visitor to see what others take for granted. The work sought to position itself so the everyday environment can cause the viewer to pause and regard the commonplace as extraordinary.[54][55][56]

Annual awards that were set up by Urban Realm and Carnyx Group in the mid-2000s to challenge the quality of built environments in Scotland saw Glenrothes awarded their Carbuncle Award in 2009.[57] The judges awarded Glenrothes the category of the most dismal place in Scotland for its "depressed and investment starved town centre".[58] This generated mixed and polarized views from locals and built environment professionals alike.[59] In the immediate aftermath of the award Urban Realm hosted a conference in the town named 'Saving Down Towns' to try to underline how great Glenrothes could be. Planners and architects were brought along to suggest possible ways forward for the town, as well as to discuss the challenges facing Scotland's urban centres in general.[57][60]

Paradoxically in 2010 the town won awards for being the "Best Kept Large Town" and the most "Clean, sustainable and beautiful community" in Scotland in the Beautiful Scotland competition[61][62] and was the winner in the "large town" category in the 2011 Royal Horticultural Society Britain in Bloom competition.[63][64] The town continued its horticultural success by achieving further Gold awards in the 2013 and 2014 UK finals.[65][66]

In 2011 then Historic Scotland completed an assessment of the town art in Glenrothes, ultimately awarding listed status to a number of artworks scattered throughout the town. The organisation also gave positive recognition to Glenrothes' significant role in helping to create the idea of art being a key factor in creating a sense of place.[67]

Glenrothes' place and importance in the history and development of Scotland has been enshrined in the Great Tapestry of Scotland, which was unveiled in 2013 in the Scottish Parliament.[68] The Glenrothes panel shows various pieces of the town's public artworks, along with visual references to its important industrial heritage associated originally with coal mining and later as a major centre for "Silicon Glen" industries.[69]

In mid-2015 Tullis Russell Papermakers, a stalwart to the local area economy for around 200 years, went into administration. The Scottish Government and Fife Council established a taskforce to help mitigate the effects of job losses and put in place appropriate support for a sustainable future for the area. Around £6 million was set aside to support the Fife Taskforce's Action Plan which included projects such as the Queensway Technology Park; supporting the regeneration of Queensway Industrial Estate to develop a modern business and technology park which can utilise the proximity to RWE's Biomass Power Generation facility and to a Green Data Centre.[70][4] The Glenrothes Enterprise Hub was another project delivered as a result of the task force support.[71][72] Proposals to redevelop the site of the former mills for mixed uses including around 800 new homes, retail, businesses and industry are progressing.[73]

The Glenrothes Energy Network was progressed in 2017 to utilise the heat from the RWE Markinch Biomass CHP plant which was formally opened in March 2015. The project was a collaboration between Fife Council, RWE and the Scottish Government. It was awarded Scottish Government funding in May 2017 as part of the Scottish Energy Strategy, which aims to deliver around 50 per cent of the energy required for Scotland's heat, transport and electricity needs from renewable sources by 2030. Construction of the heat network commenced in June 2018 and the network became operational in April 2019 making it Scotland's first 100% renewable biomass heat and power district network. The network was officially opened by the Scottish Minister for Energy, Connectivity and the Islands, Paul Wheelhouse. In 2019 the project won the Cities & Communities award at the Decentralized Energy Awards organised by the Association for Decentralised Energy.[74] It supplies low carbon heat to Council offices, local businesses and homes in Glenrothes.[75][76][77]

Governance

Further information: History of local government in Scotland
 
Fife House, headquarters of Fife Council

In the early years of the creation of the new town the Glenrothes Development Corporation (GDC) with input from the local authority, then Fife County Council and Kirkcaldy District Council, oversaw the governance. There were proposals to formally establish a Glenrothes District Council but this was overtaken by proposals for broader local government reorganisation that took place in the 1990s. Also in the early 1990s the then Conservative UK Government established a wind-up order for all of the UK's new town development corporations. Responsibilities for the assets, management and governance of all of the new towns were to be transferred to either private sector companies, or to the local authorities or other government organisations.[25]

Glenrothes is represented by a number of tiers of elected government. North Glenrothes Community Council and Pitteuchar, Stenton and Finglassie Community Council form the lowest tier of governance whose statutory role is to communicate local opinion to local and central government.[78] Glenrothes now lies within one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Fife Council is the executive, deliberative and legislative body responsible for local governance in the region and has its main headquarters in Glenrothes.[79][80] Council meetings take place in Fife House (formerly known as Glenrothes House) in the town centre. The west wing of the building was built by the Glenrothes Development Corporation (GDC) as their offices in 1969, which was later used as the headquarters of Fife Regional Council.[81]

Glenrothes forms part of the county constituency of Glenrothes, electing one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom by the first past the post system. Peter Grant of the Scottish National Party is the MP for Glenrothes after being elected in the 2015 general election and the snap election in 2017.[82] For the purposes of the Scottish Parliament, Glenrothes forms part of the Mid Fife and Glenrothes constituency following the 2011 Scottish elections. This constituency replaced the former Central Fife constituency.[83] Each constituency elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post system of election, and the region elects seven additional members to produce a form of proportional representation. Following the 2016 and 2021 Scottish Elections the constituency is represented by Jenny Gilruth MSP of the Scottish National Party.

Geography

 
View towards Glenrothes seen from St. Drostan's Cemetery, Markinch

Glenrothes lies in mid-Fife between the agricultural Howe of Fife in the north and east and Fife's industrial heartland in the south and west. Its immediate neighbouring settlements are Coaltown of Balgonie, Leslie, Markinch and Thornton, the boundaries of which are virtually indistinguishable from Glenrothes' forming a contiguous urban area.[84] The villages of Kinglassie, Milton of Balgonie and Star of Markinch are located slightly further away and are physically separated from Glenrothes by farmland. Kirkcaldy, a former royal burgh, port and industrial town is the next nearest large settlement located approximately 7 miles (11 km) to the south. Glenrothes is also located equidistant from two of Fife's other historically important principal settlements, Dunfermline and St Andrews, at 19 miles (31 km) and 21 miles (34 km) away. Two of Scotland's major cities, Edinburgh and Dundee, are located almost equidistantly from Glenrothes at 32 miles (51 km) and 27 miles (43 km) away, respectively. The smaller Scottish city of Perth is located 23 miles (37 km) to the northwest.

The northern parts of the settlement lie upland on the southern fringes of the Lomond Hills Regional Park. The central parts of the town extend between the Warout Ridge and the southern edge of the River Leven valley; a substantial green space which passes east west through the town. Southern parts of Glenrothes are largely industrial and are situated on land which gently slopes south towards the Lochty Burn and the village of Thornton.[85] The height above mean sea level at the town centre is 300 feet (91 m).[86] Temperatures in Glenrothes, like the rest of Scotland, are relatively moderate given its northern latitude. Fife is a peninsula, located between the Firth of Tay in the north, the Firth of Forth in the south and the North Sea in the east. Summers are relatively cool and the warming of the water over the summer results in warm winters. Average annual temperatures in Glenrothes range from a maximum of 18 °C (64 °F) to a minimum of 9 °C (48 °F).[87]

 
View towards Glenrothes seen from Lomond Hills Regional Park

A linked network of semi-natural landscape areas throughout the town allow for a mix of biodiversity with different flora and fauna and wildlife habitats.[85][88] Areas of ancient woodland are found in Riverside Park and Balbirnie Park, both of which are also designated historic gardens and designed landscapes.[89] Balbirnie Park is renowned for having a large collection of rhododendron species.[14] Protected wildlife species found in the Glenrothes area include red squirrels,[90] water voles[91] and various types of bats.[92] Landscape areas also act as natural drainage systems, reducing the likelihood of flooding in the built up areas of the town, with rainwater flows channelled to the River Leven, or to the Lochty Burn.[93] Landscape planning has also ensured that Glenrothes' road network, with particular focuses on the town's many roundabouts, provides green networks throughout the town.[85]

Built environment and urban form

Careful consideration was given to the form and infrastructure of the town, focusing on the creation of individual suburban type neighbourhoods (precincts), each with their own architectural identity. Engineers, planners, builders and architects were tasked with creating not only good quality mass-produced housing but green spaces, tree planting, wildlife corridors and soft and hard landscaping. This was seen as an equally important part of the process, helping to provide a sense of place and connection to the land that a New Town was felt to need in order to become a successful place where people would want to live and raise children.[94] Separating industry from housing areas in planned industrial estates was a key element of early plans.[95] This was at the time seen as an important change from the "chaotic", congested and polluted industrial towns and cities of the previous centuries where cramped unsanitary housing and dirty industries were built in close proximity to one another.

The vision for Glenrothes was to provide a clean, healthy and safe environment for the town's residents and much of the housing, as in most other new towns (especially in Scotland) took the form of council housing built by the Glenrothes Development Corporation.[31] The provision of council housing, part of a nation-wide trend towards this type of tenure, gave the local development corporation an even greater overall ability to implement its vision of a planned built environment while also fulfilling one of the primary aims of the new towns: to create affordable housing for workers in areas that were to be centres of new industry and economic growth.[96] The new homes simultaneously provided affordable housing for people being relocated from crowded "slum" areas in the industrial Central Belt (and Glasgow in particular), though the latter was less of priority for Glenrothes initially compared to other Scottish new towns such as East Kilbride and Cumbernauld which were more specifically planned to fulfill a so-called "overspill" function.

 
Early 1950s GDC housing at Woodside Road

The settlement has been purposely planned using a series of masterplans. Development of Glenrothes started in Woodside in the east and progressed westwards with the first town masterplan implemented as far as South Parks and Rimbleton housing precincts.[97][98] Early neighbourhoods were based on Ebenezer Howard's Garden City philosophy, using relatively tried and tested principles of town planning and architecture which is reflected in their housing styles and layouts.[3] The first town masterplan sub-divided the town's designated area into self-contained residential precincts with their own primary schools, local shops and community facilities, consistent with other new towns being built elsewhere in the UK in the same period.[31]

A second town masterplan was then developed in the late 1960s following Glenrothes' change of role and was to accommodate an increased population of 50,000–70,000. New areas of land in the north and south of the designated area were identified for new development.[99] The road network was redsiegned and upgraded to deal with projected increases in car ownership and new housing estates were developed to the west, then to the south and finally to the north of the designated area.[100]

The housing precincts of the 1960s and 1970s, developed under the second masterplan, departed slightly from the garden city ideals instead adopting Radburn principles; separating as far as practical footpaths from roads. The housing precincts were designed to better accommodate increases in car ownership which increased significantly from the 1960s onwards.[101] The townscape changed in this period seeing more use of contemporary architectural styles of the time and newer forms of development layouts. Terraced housing and blocks of flats were predominantly developed and housing designs also used flat roofed and mono pitch roof styles to create variety. The fronts of houses were in many instances designed to face onto public footpaths and open spaces. Car parking was kept either to the rear of properties or in parking bays located nearby in efforts to minimise conflict with pedestrians.[101] Housing precincts from the 1980s onwards were largely developed by the private sector with the majority of this housing developed in low density suburban cul-de-sacs.[85] Areas of structural planting, tree belts and open spaces were purposely designed to blend housing and factories into the hillsides and local landscape.[93]

Geology

The Glenrothes area's geology is predominantly made up of glacial deposits with the subsoil largely consisting of boulder clay with a band of sand and gravel in the area to the north of the River Leven. The river valley largely comprises alluvium deposits and there are also igneous intrusions of olivine dolerite throughout the area.[102] Productive coal measures were largely recorded in the southern parts of Glenrothes, approximately south of the line of the B921 Kinglassie road. These coal measures form part of the East Fife coalfield and prior to 1962 the deposits there were to be worked by the Rothes Colliery, until it was found that there were severe issues with water penetration and subsequent flooding. Smaller limestone coal outcrops that had been historically worked were recorded around the Balbirnie and Cadham/Balfarg areas with the land that is now Gilvenbank Park found particularly to be heavily undermined.[102]

Demography

In 1950 the population in the Glenrothes designated area was about 1,000 people, located in the hamlets of Woodside and Cadham and in the numerous farm steadings that were spread throughout the area.[103] Population growth in the early phases of the town was described as slow due to the dependence on the growth of jobs at the Rothes Colliery. In 1960 the town population was shown to have increased to 12,499 people, and it had risen to 28,098 by 1969.[103] The fastest growth was between 1964 and 1969, with average inward migration of 1,900 persons per year.[104] In 1981 Glenrothes' population was estimated at 35,000[104] and at the time the GDC was disbanded in 1995 it was estimated to be just over 40,000.[105]

Glenrothes compared according to 2011 UK census[106]
Glenrothes Fife Scotland
Total population 39,277 365,198 5,295,403
Percentage Scottish identity only 68.5% 63.8% 62.4%
Over 75 years old 6.8% 7.9% 7.7%
Unemployed 6% 4% 4.8%

The 2001 census recorded the population of Glenrothes at 38,679 representing 11% of Fife's total population.[107] The 2011 census recorded a 1.5% population rise to 39,277.[108]

The total population in the wider Glenrothes area was estimated at 49,817 in 23,596 households in 2022. 61% of the population is of working age (16–64 years). Glenrothes is similar to Fife for the percentage of homes which are owner occupied (62%) social rented (25%) or private rented (11%). The Area has a higher employment rate (74.5%), and a lower rate of those who are classed as economically inactive (21.8%) than Fife. Employment (10.9%) and income deprivation (13.8%) are just above the levels for Fife as a whole. 91.9% of 16-19 year olds are participating in education, employment or training, showing similar patterns to Fife across all categories.[109] The Glenrothes (UK Parliament constituency) Area's median weekly income was calculated at £559.10 (residents earnings) and £567.10 (workplace earnings) in 2022.[110]

The working age population of the town in 2011 was 29,079 as recorded by the census. The percentage of population economically active in Glenrothes was recorded at 75.2% in 2021.[111] The number of Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) and Universal Credit (UC) claimants at December 2022 in the Glenrothes area was 970 representing a 3.2% rate, consistent with the Scottish average, but lower than the Fife and UK averages of 3.4% and 3.7%.[112] Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) figures indicate that Auchmuty, Cadham, Collydean, Macedonia and Tanshall areas in Glenrothes fall within the 20% most deprived communities category in Scotland.[113]

Economy

The Glenrothes area's economy predominantly comprises manufacturing and engineering industries, service sector, health and public sector jobs.[6] In 2016, around 27,190 people were employed in the Glenrothes area;[6] approximately 16% of the 164,500 jobs in Fife.[114] Glenrothes is recognised for having the main concentration of advanced manufacturing and engineering companies in Fife.[5] There are a total of 46 "Top 200 Fife Businesses" located in Glenrothes and there was a recorded 532,100 square metres (5,727,477 sq ft) of industrial and business floorpace within the town's employment areas following a survey carried out in 2014[115] with the largest concentrations of premises in the south of the town and around the town centre.[116] Major employment areas in Glenrothes include: Bankhead, Eastfield, Pentland Park, Queensway, Southfield, Viewfield, Westwood Park and Whitehill.[85]

Industry

Glenrothes Industry Employed compared according to 2011 UK census[106][117]
Glenrothes Fife Scotland
Area Committee[118] Total population 50,701 366,910 5,327,700
All persons 16–74 in employment 23,493 167,326 2,516,895
% Primary industry 3.0% 2.4% 3.3%
% Manufacturing 14.9% 10.0% 7.7%
% Utilities 1.3% 1.4% 1.6%
% Construction 8.2% 8.2% 8.0%
% Wholesale, retail & transport 19.4% 18.6% 19.9%
% Accommodation and food 4.8% 5.6% 6.3%
% ICT 2.2% 3.0% 2.7%
% Finance & professional 15.6% 19.1% 20.1%
% Public sector 8.6% 7.8% 7.0%
% Education & health sector 21.9% 23.8% 23.4%

The 2011 census showed that manufacturing accounted for almost 15% of employment in Glenrothes.[117] In 2015 this amounted to over 4,000 jobs in the local area, or almost a third of all manufacturing jobs in Fife.[119] A number of high tech industrial companies are located in the town largely specialised in electronics manufacturing making the Glenrothes area one of Scotland's largest clusterings of electronics companies.[70] These are what remain of Silicon Glen operations in the area which gradually reduced and then consolidated since the peak in the late 1990s.[85] Local companies specialised in this sector include Compugraphics which develops photomasks for the microelectronics sector,[120] CTDI (formally Regenersis) which provides technology repair and test services,[121] Leviton (previously Brand Rex) which produces fibre optic cabling,[122] Raytheon which specialises in electronics for the defence industry and Semefab which produces Micro Electric Mechanical Systems (MEMS).[123] Other major companies which have established a base in Glenrothes include Bosch Rexroth (hydraulics manufacturing), FiFab (precision engineering) and Velux (Window and Skylight Manufacturers).[6]

In 2013 Indian beverages group Kyndal entered into a joint venture with John Fergus & Co Ltd to establish a new Scotch whisky distillery and bonded warehouse facility in Glenrothes. The new distillery, named Inchdairnie, focuses on exporting to markets in India, Africa and the Far East. It opened in May 2016 creating 15 new jobs as well as generating new exports worth a predicted £3.6 million to Scotland over the next three years. It is located at Whitehill Industrial Estate adjacent to Fife Airport.[124][125][126] The distillery is one of the first in Scotland to embark on a significant decarbonisation programme and was awarded UK Government funding as part of a 'Green Distilleries Competition' in January 2021. This will specifically focus on the potential to use hydrogen at the distillery to significantly decarbonise the process heat required. The hydrogen could be produced two ways, by converting the gas generated at the local AD plant to hydrogen onsite and through electrolysis of local renewables onsite. This will reduce the overall carbon footprint of the distillery.[127][128]

Roof window manufacturer Velux announced in October 2018 that it was delivering a £7 million expansion to its UK and Ireland headquarters in Glenrothes. The firm's head office building was renovated and a 3,500 square metre new build structure was developed alongside the existing office, housing a customer service centre, training facilities, office space, meeting suite and a staff restaurant. Like the current building, the extension showcases Velux products, such as its modular skylight system, flat roof windows and sun tunnels.[129]

In 2021 a new plastics recycling plant was delivered at Whitehill industrial Estate, operated by Yes Recycling Group. Other organisations including Nestlé UK & Ireland and Zero Waste Scotland, have also been involved in the development of the plant, and supermarket chain Morrisons has acquired a “significant stake” in the facility. The plant has an “initial capacity” of 15,000 tonnes and will process hard-to-recycle soft plastic – including chocolate wrappers, crisp packets, and food film. Around 60 new jobs have been created following the opening of the facility.[130][131][132]

Retail, leisure and service sectors

 
Kingdom Shopping Centre

Retail jobs accounted for approximately 11% of the total number of jobs in the local economy in 2011.[6] The majority of shopping, retail services and administrative facilities in Glenrothes are concentrated in the town centre (central business district). With approximately 120 shop units, the Kingdom Centre provides the largest concentration of retail and services in the town centre.[133] New shop units were delivered at North Street in late 2018/early 2019 anchored by a M&S foodhall.[134][135] Community and commercial leisure facilities within the town centre include the Rothes Halls complex; Glenrothes' principal theatre, library, civic and exhibition centre. A cinema, restaurant, pub and bingo hall complex are located adjacent to the Kingdom Centre at Carrick Gate/Church Street.[136] Ten-pin bowling facilities are available at Albany Gate.[137][138] A number of retail operators including the town's major supermarkets are also located in the Queensway business park located adjacent to the town centre.[139] The town's largest retail employers, Asda and Morrisons, both trade from large stores there. A retail park has also been constructed at the Saltire Centre, approximately half of a mile (1 km) to the southwest of the town centre containing major stores including Matalan and Homebase.[140] An indoor trampoline centre also operates at the Saltire Retail Park.[141]

Other types of service industries also add to the town's economic mix with large single employers being in the 'accommodation and food services' sector which accounted for around 4% of the town's total jobs.[6] Balbirnie House Hotel and Balgeddie House Hotel (a Best Western hotel) are the largest hotel operators in the immediate area. Budget hotel chains are also represented with Wetherspoons operating a hotel and pub, the Golden Acorn Hotel, in the town centre.[142] Premier Inn, Travelodge and Holiday Inn also operate hotels within Glenrothes.

Financial and professional services represent 15.6% of the total number of jobs.[117] Offices are mainly concentrated in the town centre and at Pentland Park. An enterprise hub facility was opened in the town centre in 2017 to act as a "one-stop shop" supplying increased enterprise and business services to potential entrepreneurs in the local area.[71][143][72]

 
Police Scotland Fife Division HQ, Viewfield

Public and voluntary sectors

A number of public service and third sector agencies and authorities are based in Glenrothes contributing to the town's administrative centre function. Police Scotland has established its Fife Division headquarters in Glenrothes at Viewfield.[144] Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), Scottish Enterprise and Kingdom Housing Association, a major Registered Social Landlord also have offices in Glenrothes at Pentland Park; a business park within the town.[145] Fife College is also a key employer in Glenrothes with a large campus based at Stenton Road adjacent to Viewfield Industrial Estate. Fife Council is a major employer in the locality with its prominent local authority headquarters building located in Glenrothes town centre. Many of the other council departments are contained in a number of the town centre's office blocks and a major depot and office facility is located at Bankhead in the former ADC building.[80]

Regeneration and future development

A range of development projects are proposed to regenerate the town centre steered by a masterplan that was approved by the Glenrothes Area Committee in March 2021. This seeks to address a variety of negative trends including addressing the loss of shops and a halving of office floorspace since the year 2000. Celebrating the unique legacy of public art bequeathed to the town, introducing new business opportunities outwith the Kingdom Shopping Centre, creating new public spaces including a new town square, and supporting an enhanced evening economy are also identified in the masterplan.[146][147] This supersedes an earlier Glenrothes town centre action plan that was approved at Glenrothes Area Committee in 2014.[148][149] Older parts of the Kingdom Shopping Centre at Albany Gate are proposed to be demolished and redeveloped.[150][151]

Glenrothes is to be home to the UK's First 100% Green Data Centre which is to be built at Queensway Technology Park.[152] Once complete this will represent a significant economic development for the area and will play a strategically important part in Scotland's IT infrastructure transformation as a whole. The £40 million development will create over 300 construction jobs during the build process and up to 50 full-time posts created on completion, including technical and operational staff. The facility will be the first of its kind in the UK drawing its energy from a renewable source with power coming directly from the RWE biomass plant in the town. Queensway Data Centre will accommodate up to 1500 high performance computer racks offering the highest levels of resilience and data security. The facility will be built to a BREEAM outstanding standard with a power usage effectiveness rating of less than 1.15.[153][154]

There are also proposals to support the regeneration of the western neighbourhoods, centered around the Glenwood centre. A charrette was held in 2017, facilitated by PAS and supported by design experts, Fife Council and the Scottish Government. This was intended to inform an action plan for the future of the area.[155][156]

Major housing developments are taking place in the area, including at the former Tullis Russell papermills, Cadham Road, Markinch South and at Westwood Park which will deliver over a thousand new build homes between 2022 and 2030.[157]

The UK Government announced in January 2023 that Glenrothes will share £19.4m of Levelling-up funding. The money will go into the River Leven Regeneration project to make it an exemplar for a green economic recovery to meet climate and nature targets, and a just transition to net zero. It will also go to regeneration plans for Glenrothes and Leven town centres. The improvements in Glenrothes Riverside Park include a new transport hub with electric charging, bicycle hire, information hub and enhanced accessible link to the Fife Pilgrim’s Way.[158][159][160]

Culture and community

 
"Ex Terra" sculpture

Public artworks

In 1968 Glenrothes was the first town in the UK to appoint a town artist. This is now recognised as playing a significant role, both in a Scottish and in an international context, in helping to create the idea of art being a key factor in creating a sense of place.[67] Two town artists, David Harding (1968–78) and Malcolm Robertson (1978–91), were employed in the lifetime of the Glenrothes Development Corporation (GDC).[161][162] Both artists, supported by a number of assistants, created a large variety of artworks and sculptures that are scattered throughout the town.[163]

Other artists have also contributed to the creation of the town's artworks.[94] The first sculpture erected in Glenrothes was "Ex Terra", created by Benno Schotz which was inspired by the town's motto Ex Terra Vis (Latin) meaning "From the earth strength".[164] "The Good Samaritan" sculpture in Riverside Park was produced by Edinburgh-based sculptor, Ronald Rae, who was commissioned by the GDC to produce a piece of art work in celebration of the town's 40th anniversary in 1988.[161] The concrete hippos scattered throughout the town were designed and created by Stanley Bonnar who went on to be the town artist at East Kilbride.[165][166]

Public parks and horticulture

The town has won numerous awards locally and nationally for the quality of its landscaping;[61][64] something that is promoted by the "Take a Pride in Glenrothes" (TAPIG) group.[62] The Glenrothes Development Corporation devoted around one third of land in Glenrothes to the provision of open space.[93] As a consequence the town has numerous parks, the largest being Balbirnie Park,[14] Carleton Park,[167] Gilvenbank Park,[168] Riverside Park,[169] and Warout Park.[170][171] The Lomond Hills Regional Park borders and enters the town to the north and east.[172]

Civic and heritage facilities

Rothes Halls is the town's main theatre, exhibition, conference and civic centre.[173][174] The town's main library and a cafe also form part of the complex. The Rothes Halls was officially opened by actor and director Richard Wilson on 30 November 1993. Since then it has played host to a vast range of local, national and international shows; popular music and entertainment acts, and amateur societies.[175] It also hosts an annual Kingdom Of Fife Real Ale and Cider Festival, the Glenrothes comic con and a science festival.[176][177][178]

 
Rothes Halls, Kingdom Centre

The Glenrothes & Area Heritage Centre established a permanent base in November 2013 following a series of successful temporary exhibitions held previously in the town centre. The heritage centre is run by local volunteers and operates from a shop unit in the Kingdom Shopping Centre. It focuses on the history of the Glenrothes area from a period between the early 19th century to the late 20th century.[179]

A war memorial was constructed in Glenrothes in 2007 following the deaths of two local Black Watch soldiers in Iraq. Prior to this Glenrothes was in the unusual position of not being able to host its own Remembrance Sunday commemorations. Unlike traditional memorials, the Glenrothes war memorial consists of two interlinking rings of standing stones.[180]

Community hospital facilities

Glenrothes Hospital is a community hospital located in the Forresters Lodge area to the northwest of the town centre. Opened in October 1981 the hospital has over 80 nursing staff and over 60 beds, as well as around 20 day hospital beds. Glenrothes Hospital provides a wide range of services including; speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, dietetics, district nurses, health visitors, podiatry, hospital pharmacy and x-ray services. There is, however, no accident and emergency service within this hospital.[181]

Social clubs, organisations and community events

There are a number of social clubs and organisations operating within Glenrothes which contribute to the cultural and community offerings of the town. These include an art club, various youth clubs, a floral art club, amateur theatre groups, a choral society and a variety of sports clubs.[182][183] Glenrothes hosts an annual gala which is held at Warout Park and has a variety of family activities including a dog show, highland dancing and a travelling funfair with stalls.[184] Summer and winter festivals were held in Riverside Park in 2012. The summer festival included sporting events along with arts and crafts, food stalls and fairground shows.[185] The winter festival coincided with bonfire night celebrations and included the town's annual fireworks display which was previously held at Warout Park. Markinch and Thornton each host an annual Highland Games[186] and the other surrounding villages host their own annual gala days and festivals.[187]

 
Riverside Park during the 2012 summer festival

Sports facilities, clubs and events

The town has a large variety of established sports and leisure facilities. This includes two 18-hole golf courses (Glenrothes and Balbirnie), outdoor skateparks, an indoor trampoline park, an indoor ten-pin bowling alley, a football stadium at Warout Park, private gyms and the Michael Woods Sports and Leisure Centre which is a major sports complex located in Viewfield.[85][93][16][188] The Sports Centre was named after the late SNP Councillor Michael Woods in a controversial decision taken by the Glenrothes Area Committee in 2012.[189] The sports centre was recognised for its architectural quality in the 2014 Scottish Property Awards, coming second place in the Architectural Excellence Award for Public Buildings.[190] In April 2018 a new state-of-the-art indoor training facility was developed adjacent to the Michael Woods Sports and Leisure Centre; the only facility of its kind in Fife. The indoor arena features a 3G football pitch allowing for seven-a-side and five-a-side matches. The facility, which was funded by Fife Council and sportscotland at a cost of £2.3 million, is also compliant for rugby training.[191]

 
Michael Woods Sports and Leisure Centre

The town's football club is Glenrothes F.C., they compete in the East of Scotland League and play at Warout Stadium. The local rugby club is Glenrothes RFC who are based at Carleton Park and there is also a local cricket club who play at Gilvenbank Park.[192][16][193] The Road Running Festival in Glenrothes is the largest annual sporting event in the town with over 1500 people of all ages and levels of fitness taking part and has been held annually since 1983.[194] The town is also an established destination in hosting the BDO British International Championships for darts which are held annually at the town's CISWO club.[195][196][197]

Town twinning

Glenrothes has a twin-town link with Böblingen, a city in Baden-Württemberg in Germany since 1971.[198] As early as 1962 a local councillor had suggested that the town might "twin" with a town on the Continent.[199] Some years later a friendship grew up between teachers at Glenrothes High School and the Gymnasium in Böblingen which eventually led to the twinning of the towns. Since then there have been a number of exchanges on official, club and personal levels.[199]

Notable residents

Famous people associated with the town include the actor Dougray Scott who grew up in Glenrothes and attended Auchmuty High School.

Douglas Mason, known as one of the engineers of the "Thatcher revolution" and the "father of the poll tax" set up home in Glenrothes in the 1960s and spent most of his adult life living there.[200]

Henry McLeish, the former First Minister of Scotland lived in Glenrothes, having been brought up in nearby Kennoway. Glenrothes town centre is home to the building involved in the notorious Officegate scandal, which ultimately led to McLeish's resignation as First Minister in 2001.

Tricia Marwick, the first female Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament served as MSP for Glenrothes.[201][202]

John Wallace CBE, born in nearby Methilhill, like many of his extended family played in the Tullis Russell Mills Band; his father worked as a joiner in the late Tullis Russell Paper Mills. He became the only Scot to hold the position of Principal of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland between 2002 and 2014.[203]

The town has also been home to current and former professional football players including Kevin McHattie (Inverness Caledonian Thistle and previously Hearts), Billy MacKay (formally Rangers and Hearts) and David Speedie (formally Chelsea, Liverpool).

Sergeant were a four-piece indie rock band established in Glenrothes. In 2007 they signed a contract with Mercury Records and played at number of musical festivals including T in the Park and Glastonbury. The band also supported Oasis on four Scottish dates and also the Fratellis on their full UK tour.

Landmarks

 
"Giant Irises", Leslie Roundabout

The River Leven Bridge, which spans Riverside Park and carries the town's Western Distributor Road, is a cable-stayed bridge that was completed in 1995. The bridge was designed by Dundee-based Nicoll Russell Studios, Architects and was commissioned by the Glenrothes Development Corporation (GDC) as a landmark creating a gateway into Riverside Park that could be seen from further afield.[204] The bridge was constructed by Balfour Beatty Construction (Scotland) and it was the first reinforced-concrete cable-stayed structure ever built in the UK.[205]

A number of Glenrothes' artworks and sculptures act as landmarks at major gateways into the town, such as the "Giant Irises" at Leslie Roundabout, and the Glenrothes "Gateway Totum" at Bankhead Roundabout.[85] Former town artist Malcolm Robertson produced the "Giant Irises" sculpture as Glenrothes' contribution to the Glasgow Garden Festival. The sculpture was the winner of the John Brown Clydebank award for the "Most Original and Amusing Artifact" and following the festival, it was re-erected at Leslie Roundabout.[161][206] A number of other sculptures were relocated in 2011 to more visually prominent locations around the town creating new landmarks.[207][208] Four pieces of Glenrothes artworks have been awarded listed status by Historic Scotland.[209] "Ex Terra" has been listed at Category B[210] and "The Birds", "The Henge" and "Work" (or Industry, Past and Present) at Category C.[211][212][213] Historic Scotland has also produced a website, a video and an information brochure dedicated to the Glenrothes town art.[67]

 
St. Paul's R.C. Church, Glenrothes

The town is also home to a number of churches which act as important landmarks due to their unique architectural styles and sometimes their locations at key road junctions. The three earliest churches are now listed buildings. These are St. Margaret's Church[214] in Woodside (category C listed), St. Paul's RC Church[215] in Auchmuty (category A listed), and St. Columba's Church[216] on Church Street (category A listed) in the town centre.[139][217][218] St. Paul's RC was designed by architects Gillespie, Kidd and Coia.[139][217][219] In 1993 it was listed as one of sixty key monuments of post-war architecture by the international conservation organisation DoCoMoMo. The church sits at a junction between two main distributor roads. St Columba's Church, designed by architects Wheeler & Sproson, underwent significant restoration in 2009.[220][221] Internally the church contains a large mural created by Alberto Morrocco titled 'The Way of the Cross', which was completed in 1962. Externally the church with its distinctive triangular iron bell tower and Mondrian inspired stained glass windows[222] acts as a landmark at the south-western gateway to the town centre.

Balgonie Castle located to the east of Glenrothes on the south bank of the River Leven near Milton of Balgonie and Coaltown of Balgonie is also a local landmark. The castle keep dates from the 14th century, and the remaining structures were added piecemeal until the 18th century. The keep has been recently restored, although other parts of the castle are roofless ruins. The castle was awarded category A listing in 1972 by Historic Scotland.[223]

Education

 
The new Auchmuty High School completed summer 2013

Early precincts in the town were served by their own primary schools which were to be provided on the basis of one school for every 1,000 houses.[224] The first primary school to be opened in Glenrothes was Carleton Primary School, built in 1953 in Woodside.[31] In total thirteen primary schools were developed in the town, twelve non-denominational and one to serve catholic pupils.[85][224] In February 2014 Fife Council's executive committee voted to close one of Glenrothes' primary schools at Tanshall as part of a wider school estate review which sought to reduce costs. The closure faced considerable local opposition and the proposals were called-in by the Scottish Government, but ultimately the closure of the school went ahead as planned and it was demolished in 2016.[225]

There are three secondary schools in Glenrothes, the earliest of which is Auchmuty High School, opened in 1957. Secondary Schools were to be provided on the basis of one school for every 4,000 houses.[224] Glenwood High School was built in 1962 to serve the western precincts. Prior to 1966 older pupils had to attend schools in neighbouring towns to continue "Higher" examinations as Auchmuty and Glenwood only provided for pupils at junior secondary level.[226] Glenrothes High School was built in 1966 to accommodate pupils at a higher level. However changes in the education system nationally meant that both Auchmuty and Glenwood were raised to full high school status in the 1970s.[227][228] Auchmuty High School serves the east and southern parts of Glenrothes as well as the villages of Markinch, Coaltown of Balgonie and Thornton.[229] As part of the £126 million Building Fife's Future Project a replacement for Auchmuty was completed and opened to pupils in 2013.[230] Glenrothes High School serves the central and northern areas in the town.[231] Glenwood High School serves the western parts of Glenrothes and the villages of Leslie and Kinglassie.[232] Catholic pupils in Glenrothes attend St Andrew's High School in neighbouring Kirkcaldy.[233]

 
Fife College Glenrothes Campus

Further education in the town is provided at Fife College. Construction of a Glenrothes college campus began in the early 1970s, originally specialising in paper manufacturing, mechanical engineering and electrical engineering courses. A second institute known as FIPRE (Fife Institute of Physical and Recreational Education) was built adjacent catering for sport and physical education as well as providing a sports centre for the town.[224] The Glenrothes campus of the college is located at Stenton Road in Viewfield.[234] This was significantly extended in 2010 with the development of the "Future Skills Centre". It includes departments in engineering, construction, renewables and science to cater for emerging industries specialising in renewable energy and low carbon technologies as well as provide training for major engineering projects.[235]

Transport

 
Glenrothes Bus Station

Glenrothes has a planned road network with original masterplans establishing the principle that "through traffic" be bypassed around the housing precincts by a network of "Freeway" and "Highway" distributor roads. These would connect each precinct to the purposely designed town centre and to the industrial estates.[236] Another element that was adopted was the use of roundabouts at junctions instead of traffic lights which would allow traffic to flow freely.[236]

The town has direct dual-carriageway access to the M90 via the A92 Trunk Road. The A92 passes north–south through the town and connects Glenrothes with Dundee in the north and Dunfermline in the southwest where it merges with the M90. This gives Glenrothes a continuous dual-carriageway link to Edinburgh and the major central Scotland road networks, whilst much of the route north to Dundee remains a single-carriageway.[3] Local campaigners have for a number of years sought the upgrade of the A92 north of Glenrothes.[237]

The A911 road passes east/west through the town and connects it with Levenmouth in the east and Milnathort and the M90 in the west.[238] The B921 Kinglassie Road, described in early masterplans as the Southern Freeway,[236] links Glenrothes to the former mining communities of Cardenden and Kinglassie, and to Westfield. The route is a dual carriageway between Bankhead Roundabout and as far west as Fife Airport. Early masterplans show that this route was originally intended to be upgraded to provide dualled connections to the A92 Chapel junction in Kirkcaldy,[236] however this has never been implemented.

 
Fife (Glenrothes) Airport

The town has a major bus station in the town centre providing frequent links to the cities of Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Perth as well as to surrounding towns and villages.[239] Two railway stations on the edge of the main town serve the Glenrothes area - Glenrothes with Thornton railway station and Markinch railway station.[238] Glenrothes is home to an airfield, Fife Airport (ICAO code EGPJ), which is used for general aviation with private light aircraft.[240] Edinburgh Airport is the nearest international airport to Glenrothes, Dundee Airport operates daily flights to London, Birmingham and Belfast.[241]

A purposely designed pedestrian and cycle system[242] was also created using a network of ring and radial routes throughout the town.[236] This includes a near three mile continuous linear cycle path, called Boblingen Way, which extends across the length of Glenrothes, from Leslie in the west, to Woodside in the east.[243]

Glenrothes is connected to the National Cycle Network via Route 766 which runs north from Kirkcaldy to north of Glenrothes, linking to the wider network via Route 76 and Route 1.[244] The Fife Pilgrim Way is a long-distance walking route covering a distance of around 64 miles between Culross, connecting a number of Fife's villages, towns and countryside and terminating in St Andrews. The route passes through Glenrothes on a section of the route between Kinglassie in the southwest and Markinch in the east.[245]

References

Notes

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  3. ^ a b c d e Cowling, 1997, pp. 34–38.
  4. ^ a b "Queensway Technology & Business Park". investinfife.co.uk. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  5. ^ a b "Fife Investment Prospectus". Invest in Fife. November 2013. pp. 14–15. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "Glenrothes Area: Economy and Employability Activity Update 2016/17" (PDF). Fife Council. 31 January 2018. p. 3. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  7. ^ a b Ferguson, 1982, pp. 56–59.
  8. ^ Ferguson, 1996, p. 11.
  9. ^ a b c Cowling, 1997, pp. 25–31.
  10. ^ a b Reid, 2004, pp. 6–41.
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  18. ^ Ferguson, 1982, p. 19.
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Bibliography

  • Cowling, David (1997). An Essay for Today – The Scottish New Towns 1947-1997 (1st ed.). Edinburgh: Rutland Press. ISBN 1-873190-47-6.
  • Ferguson, Keith (1982). A History of Glenrothes (1st ed.). Glenrothes: Glenrothes Development Corporation. ASIN B001P4JSI0.
  • Ferguson, Keith (1996). A New Town's Heritage: Glenrothes 1948-1995 (1st ed.). Glenrothes: Glenrothes Development Corporation. ISBN 0-9502603-4-7.
  • Glenrothes Development Corporation (1966). Glenrothes – A Guide to Scotland's New Town in Fife. Glenrothes: Glenrothes Development Corporation.
  • Glenrothes Development Corporation (1970). Glenrothes – New Town Masterplan Report. Glenrothes: Glenrothes Development Corporation. OCLC 156675029.
  • Glenrothes Development Corporation (1983). Glenrothes Development Profile. Glenrothes: Glenrothes Development Corporation. OCLC 316174877.
  • Omand, Donald (2000). The Fife Book. Edinburgh: Birlinn Publishing. ISBN 1-84158-274-3.
  • Pride, Glen L. (1998). Kingdom of Fife (2nd ed.). Edinburgh: Rutland Press. ISBN 1-873190-49-2.
  • Reid, Emma (2004). Old Glenrothes- Old buildings, farms and villages in the area which became the New Town of Glenrothes (1st ed.). Cupar: Fife Family History Society.

External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Glenrothes.
  • [1] (A selection of archive films about Glenrothes)

May 04, 2023
glenrothes, other, uses, disambiguation, listen, help, info, glen, roth, scots, scottish, gaelic, gleann, rathais, town, situated, heart, fife, east, central, scotland, about, miles, north, edinburgh, miles, south, dundee, town, population, 2011, census, makin. For other uses see Glenrothes disambiguation Glenrothes listen help info ɡ l ɛ n ˈ r ɒ 8 ɪ s glen ROTH iss Scots Glenrothes Scottish Gaelic Gleann Rathais is a town situated in the heart of Fife in east central Scotland It is about 30 miles 48 km north of Edinburgh and 30 miles 48 km south of Dundee The town had a population of 39 277 in the 2011 census making it the third largest settlement in Fife and the 18th most populous settlement in Scotland The name Glenrothes comes from its historical link with the Earl of Rothes who owned much of the land on which the new town has been built Glen Scottish for valley was added to the name to avoid confusion with Rothes in Moray and in recognition that the town lies in a river valley The motto of Glenrothes is Ex terra vis meaning From the earth strength which dates back to the founding of the town GlenrothesScottish Gaelic Gleann Rathais 1 Scots GlenrothesAdministrative centre and townFrom top left to right Riverside Park pond with road bridge in background Rothes Remembered sculpture Glenrothes war memorial and The Dream sculpture Marching Hippos in Riverside Park Balbirnie stone circle Good Samaritan sculpture with view to town centreGlenrothesLocation within FifeArea8 sq mi 21 km2 Population38 360 mid 2020 est 2 Density4 795 sq mi 1 851 km2 OS grid referenceNO281015 Edinburgh32 mi 51 km London444 mi 715 km Council areaFifeLieutenancy areaFifeCountryScotlandSovereign stateUnited KingdomPost townGLENROTHESPostcode districtKY6 KY7Dialling code01592PoliceScotlandFireScottishAmbulanceScottishUK ParliamentGlenrothesScottish ParliamentMid Fife and GlenrothesList of places UK Scotland 56 11 53 N 3 10 41 W 56 198 N 3 178 W 56 198 3 178 Coordinates 56 11 53 N 3 10 41 W 56 198 N 3 178 W 56 198 3 178Planned in the late 1940s as one of Scotland s first post second world war new towns its original purpose was to house miners who were to work at a newly established coal mine the Rothes Colliery After the mine closed the town developed as an important industrial centre playing a major role in developing Scotland s Silicon Glen between 1961 and 2000 with several major electronics and hi tech companies setting up facilities in the town The Glenrothes Development Corporation GDC a quasi autonomous non governmental organisation 3 was established to develop manage and promote the new town The GDC supported by the local authority oversaw the governance of Glenrothes until the GDC was wound up in 1995 after which all responsibility was transferred to Fife Council Glenrothes is the administrative capital of Fife containing the headquarters of both Fife Council and Police Scotland Fife Division and is a major service centre within the area It is also a centre for excellence within the high tech electronics and manufacturing industry sectors 4 several organisations have their global headquarters in Glenrothes 5 Major employers include Bosch Rexroth hydraulics manufacturing Fife College education Leviton fibre optics manufacturing and Raytheon defence and electronics 6 Glenrothes is unique in Fife as much of the town centre floorspace is internalised within Fife s largest shopping centre the Kingdom Shopping Centre Public facilities include a regional sports and leisure centre two golf courses major parks a civic centre and theatre and a college campus The town has won multiple horticultural awards in the Beautiful Scotland and Britain in Bloom contests for the quality of its parks and landscaping It has numerous outdoor sculptures and artworks a result of the appointment of town artists in the early development of the town The A92 trunk road provides the principal access to the town passing through Glenrothes and connecting it to the wider Scottish motorway and trunk road network A major bus station is located in the town centre providing regional and local bus services to surrounding settlements Contents 1 History 1 1 Toponymy 1 2 Early Known Settlement 1 3 Glenrothes new town 1 4 Industrial history 1 5 Post New Town History 2 Governance 3 Geography 3 1 Built environment and urban form 3 2 Geology 4 Demography 5 Economy 5 1 Industry 5 2 Retail leisure and service sectors 5 3 Public and voluntary sectors 5 4 Regeneration and future development 6 Culture and community 6 1 Public artworks 6 2 Public parks and horticulture 6 3 Civic and heritage facilities 6 4 Community hospital facilities 6 5 Social clubs organisations and community events 6 6 Sports facilities clubs and events 6 7 Town twinning 6 8 Notable residents 7 Landmarks 8 Education 9 Transport 10 References 10 1 Notes 10 2 Bibliography 11 External linksHistory Edit Cadham Village conservation area Toponymy Edit The name Rothes comes from the association with the Earl of Rothes of the Leslie family from Northeast Scotland This family historically owned much of the land on which Glenrothes has been built and gave its name to the adjacent village of Leslie Glen from the Scottish Gaelic word gleann meaning valley was added to prevent confusion with Rothes in Moray and to reflect the location of the town within the River Leven valley 7 8 9 The different areas precincts of Glenrothes have been named after the hamlets that were already established in the area e g Cadham Woodside the farms which formally occupied the land e g Caskieberran Collydean Rimbleton or the historical estate homes in the area e g Balbirnie Balgeddie Leslie Parks 10 Early Known Settlement Edit Glenrothes is home to the remains of ancient stone circles which can be seen at Balbirnie 11 and Balfarg 12 in the northeast of the town The Balfarg henge was constructed around 3 000BC and contains the remnants of a stone circle which has been partly reconstructed 13 The henge was excavated between 1977 and 1978 prior to the development of a new housing estate 13 The Balbirnie stone circle and cairn which is only located approximately 500m away from Balfarg was excavated between 1970 and 1971 In order to allow widening of the A92 the stones were moved a short distance to a new location at North Lodge and reconstructed as nearly as possible in the original way 13 The stone circle has been carbon dated as being from the Bronze Age 14 It is thought that the Balbrinie stone circle and the Balfarg circle once formed part of a larger ceremonial complex 13 Balbirnie House Hotel Balbirnie Park There are a number of former country houses located in Glenrothes Balbirnie House a category A listed 15 Georgian period building was bought along with its grounds in 1969 by the GDC from the Balfour family to be developed as Balbirnie Park and golf course 16 17 18 The house was later occupied and restored by the GDC in 1981 to stop the property falling into disrepair This led to potential interest and the house was converted into a four star hotel in 1989 The B listed former stable block 19 of the house was converted into a craft centre 16 Balgeddie House a C Listed 20 former Edwardian residence of Sir Robert Spencer Nairn located in the northwest of the town has also been converted into a high quality hotel 21 Leslie House the category A listed 22 17th century former home of the Earl of Rothes Clan Leslie became a care home for the elderly in 1945 owned by the Church of Scotland The building was in the process of being renovated when the interior and roof of the house were destroyed by a fire in February 2009 However proposals to restore the mansion were approved in 2019 23 Much of the former grounds of Leslie House have been used to create Riverside Park Collydean precinct hosts a ruin of a 17th century house called Pitcairn House which was built for and first occupied by Archibald Pitcairne famous Scottish physician 10 Glenrothes new town Edit Glenrothes was designated in 1948 under the New Towns Act 1946 as Scotland s second post war new town 24 25 26 The planning development management and promotion of the new town was the responsibility of the Glenrothes Development Corporation GDC a quango appointed by the Secretary of State for Scotland 3 The corporation board consisted of eight members including a chairman and deputy chairman 27 The first meeting of the GDC was in Auchmuty House provided by Tullis Russell on 20 June 1949 28 29 The original plan was to build a new settlement for a population of 32 000 to 35 000 The land which Glenrothes now occupies was largely agricultural and once contained a number of small rural communities and the hamlets of Cadham 30 and Woodside which were established to house workers at local paper mills The original proposals for the new town would have centred it on Markinch however the village s infrastructure was deemed unable to withstand the substantial growth that would be needed for a new town of the scale proposed and there was considerable local opposition to the plans 7 Leslie and Thornton were also considered as possible locations again meeting local opposition and eventually an area of 5 320 acres 2 153 ha between all of these villages was zoned for the new town s development 31 Much of the historical Aytoun Balfour Balgonie and Rothes estates were included in Glenrothes assigned area along with the historical country houses Balbirnie House Balgeddie House and Leslie House 32 33 Unlike the other post war Scottish new towns of Cumbernauld East Kilbride Irvine and Livingston Glenrothes was not originally to be a Glasgow overspill new town although it did later take this role It was however populated in the early 1950s in part by families moving from the declining coalfield areas of Scotland It is also the only Scottish new town to not take its name from an existing settlement and in that respect was a completely new settlement 34 Industrial history Edit Before Glenrothes was developed the main industries in the area were papermaking coal mining and farming Local paper manufacturers included the Tullis Russell and Dixons Mills near Markinch in the east and the Fettykil and Prinlaws Mills to the west at Leslie 35 The papermills established along the banks of the River Leven which provided energy to power their operations 33 Tullis Russell Papermills in 2010 Scotland had emerged from the Second World War in a strong position both to contribute to the UK s post war reconstruction and to help repay heavy overseas debt incurred in rearmament and six years of war At the heart of government strategy was the need to produce energy and the first focus of the resulting industrial renewal was massive investment by the state in the Scottish coal industry 36 The case for developing Glenrothes was partially driven by this strategy and was further advanced in a report produced in 1946 by Sir Frank Mears to the Central and South East Scotland Planning Committee This specifically made the case for a new town in the Leslie Markinch area to support growth in the coal mining industry in Fife 9 37 The Rothes Colliery the new coal mine associated with the town s development was built on land to the west of Thornton an established village south of Glenrothes 38 The mine which was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1957 was promoted as a key driver in the economic regeneration of central Fife 39 However un stemmable flooding and geological problems in the area combined with a lessening demand for coal nationally made the mine less viable and it was closed in 1965 9 Ironically miners who had worked in older deep pits in the area had warned against the development of the Rothes pit for this very reason 40 On 28 May 1963 Cadco Development Ltd held a press conference in Edinburgh to announce that they were bringing 2 000 jobs to Glenrothes They were going to take three factories on the Queensway Industrial Estate open pig breeding units at Whitehill and build a supermarket in the town centre Cadco s board of directors included the film star George Sanders and his wife Benita Hume alongside Denis Loraine and Tom Roe Thomas Chambers Windsor Roe 41 Denis Loraine soon persuaded the Glenrothes Development Corporation that the construction work should be carried out by Cadco s own building company which had opened a depot in nearby Kirkcaldy 42 43 By May 1964 Cadco were confident that their factories would soon start production but by October all work had stopped because the Cadco Building Company had not paid its sub contractors and suppliers It transpired that Cadco did not have the money to back up its plans and the banks and small companies who had respectively paid for and done the advance work found themselves out of pocket and its employees lost their jobs It turned out that the money the development corporation had paid to Cadco for building work had been used instead to help the failing Royal Victoria Sausages Company in Brighton When the scam was exposed the town s MP Willie Hamilton posed questions in the House of Commons and a Board of Trade inquiry was set up As the hoped for jobs evaporated the development corporation the Royal Bank of Scotland and others involved had to explain to the Board of Trade inspectors how they been taken in by Denis Loraine and Cadco However no one was ever prosecuted for their part in the affair in the United Kingdom Historians speculate that this was because of the involvement direct and indirect of people in high places particularly future Prime Minister Edward Heath and Hollywood actress Jayne Mansfield Investors alleged to be compromised by the scandal ranged from novelist Graham Greene to Charlie Chaplin After the scandal broke Loraine fled to the United States only avoiding a long prison sentence by working under cover to help bring to justice those behind the biggest counterfeiting operation in US history 44 The closure of the Rothes Colliery almost halted the further development of Glenrothes but soon afterwards central government changed the town s role by appointing it as an economic focal point for Central Scotland as part of a Regional Plan for economic growth and development 45 The Glenrothes Development Corporation were able to use this status to attract a plethora of light industries and modern electronics factories to the town The first big overseas electronic investor was Beckmans Instruments in 1959 followed by Hughes Industries in the early 1960s 34 A number of other important companies followed establishing Glenrothes as a major industrial hub in Scotland s Silicon Glen 46 In the mid 1970s the town also replaced Cupar as the HQ of Fife Regional Council making it the administrative centre of Fife 3 47 48 ADC electronics plant in 2005 Major industrial estates were developed to the south of Glenrothes largely because it was near the proposed East Fife Regional Road A92 which was developed in 1989 giving dual carriageway access to the main central Scotland road network 45 The rapid growth experienced in Silicon Glen peaked in the 1990s with Canon developing their first UK manufacturing plant at Westwood Park in Glenrothes in 1992 37 ADC Telecommunications a major American electronics company established a base at Bankhead in early 2000 with the promise of a substantial number of jobs 49 Around the start of the 21st century a decline in major electronics manufacturing in Scotland affected the town s economy and thus the industrial base of the town was forced to diversify for the second time in its short history 50 51 By 2004 both ADC and Canon had closed their Glenrothes operations with much of the promised jobs growth failing to materialise This was largely due to the electronics industrial sector in Glenrothes and most of central Scotland being dependent upon an inward investment strategy that led to almost 43 of employment in foreign owned plants which were susceptible to changes in global economic markets 52 Post New Town History Edit The GDC was finally wound up in 1995 after which responsibility for Glenrothes was largely transferred to Fife Council with assets such as the Kingdom Shopping Centre industrial and office units sold off to private sector companies 25 However by 1995 the GDC had left a lasting legacy on the town by overseeing the development of over 15 000 houses 5 174 125 square feet 480 692 m2 of industrial floorspace 735 476 square feet 68 328 m2 of office floorspace and 576 977 square feet 53 603 m2 of shopping floorspace 25 Since the winding up of the GDC Glenrothes continues to serve as Fife s principal administrative centre and serves a wider sub regional area as a major centre for services and employment 53 Aerial view of Glenrothes taken from southeast In 2008 coinciding with the town s 60th anniversary Canadian artist and researcher Sylvia Grace Borda chose to holiday for a week in Glenrothes She was curious to explore the town as if she were a late 1960s photographer of common places following on from a similar study of East Kilbride The outcome was the production of a series of images which the artist believes contradict how some Scots would see Glenrothes reinforcing the observation that it often takes a visitor to see what others take for granted The work sought to position itself so the everyday environment can cause the viewer to pause and regard the commonplace as extraordinary 54 55 56 Annual awards that were set up by Urban Realm and Carnyx Group in the mid 2000s to challenge the quality of built environments in Scotland saw Glenrothes awarded their Carbuncle Award in 2009 57 The judges awarded Glenrothes the category of the most dismal place in Scotland for its depressed and investment starved town centre 58 This generated mixed and polarized views from locals and built environment professionals alike 59 In the immediate aftermath of the award Urban Realm hosted a conference in the town named Saving Down Towns to try to underline how great Glenrothes could be Planners and architects were brought along to suggest possible ways forward for the town as well as to discuss the challenges facing Scotland s urban centres in general 57 60 Paradoxically in 2010 the town won awards for being the Best Kept Large Town and the most Clean sustainable and beautiful community in Scotland in the Beautiful Scotland competition 61 62 and was the winner in the large town category in the 2011 Royal Horticultural Society Britain in Bloom competition 63 64 The town continued its horticultural success by achieving further Gold awards in the 2013 and 2014 UK finals 65 66 In 2011 then Historic Scotland completed an assessment of the town art in Glenrothes ultimately awarding listed status to a number of artworks scattered throughout the town The organisation also gave positive recognition to Glenrothes significant role in helping to create the idea of art being a key factor in creating a sense of place 67 Glenrothes place and importance in the history and development of Scotland has been enshrined in the Great Tapestry of Scotland which was unveiled in 2013 in the Scottish Parliament 68 The Glenrothes panel shows various pieces of the town s public artworks along with visual references to its important industrial heritage associated originally with coal mining and later as a major centre for Silicon Glen industries 69 In mid 2015 Tullis Russell Papermakers a stalwart to the local area economy for around 200 years went into administration The Scottish Government and Fife Council established a taskforce to help mitigate the effects of job losses and put in place appropriate support for a sustainable future for the area Around 6 million was set aside to support the Fife Taskforce s Action Plan which included projects such as the Queensway Technology Park supporting the regeneration of Queensway Industrial Estate to develop a modern business and technology park which can utilise the proximity to RWE s Biomass Power Generation facility and to a Green Data Centre 70 4 The Glenrothes Enterprise Hub was another project delivered as a result of the task force support 71 72 Proposals to redevelop the site of the former mills for mixed uses including around 800 new homes retail businesses and industry are progressing 73 The Glenrothes Energy Network was progressed in 2017 to utilise the heat from the RWE Markinch Biomass CHP plant which was formally opened in March 2015 The project was a collaboration between Fife Council RWE and the Scottish Government It was awarded Scottish Government funding in May 2017 as part of the Scottish Energy Strategy which aims to deliver around 50 per cent of the energy required for Scotland s heat transport and electricity needs from renewable sources by 2030 Construction of the heat network commenced in June 2018 and the network became operational in April 2019 making it Scotland s first 100 renewable biomass heat and power district network The network was officially opened by the Scottish Minister for Energy Connectivity and the Islands Paul Wheelhouse In 2019 the project won the Cities amp Communities award at the Decentralized Energy Awards organised by the Association for Decentralised Energy 74 It supplies low carbon heat to Council offices local businesses and homes in Glenrothes 75 76 77 Governance EditFurther information History of local government in Scotland Fife House headquarters of Fife Council In the early years of the creation of the new town the Glenrothes Development Corporation GDC with input from the local authority then Fife County Council and Kirkcaldy District Council oversaw the governance There were proposals to formally establish a Glenrothes District Council but this was overtaken by proposals for broader local government reorganisation that took place in the 1990s Also in the early 1990s the then Conservative UK Government established a wind up order for all of the UK s new town development corporations Responsibilities for the assets management and governance of all of the new towns were to be transferred to either private sector companies or to the local authorities or other government organisations 25 Glenrothes is represented by a number of tiers of elected government North Glenrothes Community Council and Pitteuchar Stenton and Finglassie Community Council form the lowest tier of governance whose statutory role is to communicate local opinion to local and central government 78 Glenrothes now lies within one of the 32 council areas of Scotland Fife Council is the executive deliberative and legislative body responsible for local governance in the region and has its main headquarters in Glenrothes 79 80 Council meetings take place in Fife House formerly known as Glenrothes House in the town centre The west wing of the building was built by the Glenrothes Development Corporation GDC as their offices in 1969 which was later used as the headquarters of Fife Regional Council 81 Glenrothes forms part of the county constituency of Glenrothes electing one Member of Parliament MP to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom by the first past the post system Peter Grant of the Scottish National Party is the MP for Glenrothes after being elected in the 2015 general election and the snap election in 2017 82 For the purposes of the Scottish Parliament Glenrothes forms part of the Mid Fife and Glenrothes constituency following the 2011 Scottish elections This constituency replaced the former Central Fife constituency 83 Each constituency elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament MSP by the first past the post system of election and the region elects seven additional members to produce a form of proportional representation Following the 2016 and 2021 Scottish Elections the constituency is represented by Jenny Gilruth MSP of the Scottish National Party Geography Edit View towards Glenrothes seen from St Drostan s Cemetery Markinch Glenrothes lies in mid Fife between the agricultural Howe of Fife in the north and east and Fife s industrial heartland in the south and west Its immediate neighbouring settlements are Coaltown of Balgonie Leslie Markinch and Thornton the boundaries of which are virtually indistinguishable from Glenrothes forming a contiguous urban area 84 The villages of Kinglassie Milton of Balgonie and Star of Markinch are located slightly further away and are physically separated from Glenrothes by farmland Kirkcaldy a former royal burgh port and industrial town is the next nearest large settlement located approximately 7 miles 11 km to the south Glenrothes is also located equidistant from two of Fife s other historically important principal settlements Dunfermline and St Andrews at 19 miles 31 km and 21 miles 34 km away Two of Scotland s major cities Edinburgh and Dundee are located almost equidistantly from Glenrothes at 32 miles 51 km and 27 miles 43 km away respectively The smaller Scottish city of Perth is located 23 miles 37 km to the northwest The northern parts of the settlement lie upland on the southern fringes of the Lomond Hills Regional Park The central parts of the town extend between the Warout Ridge and the southern edge of the River Leven valley a substantial green space which passes east west through the town Southern parts of Glenrothes are largely industrial and are situated on land which gently slopes south towards the Lochty Burn and the village of Thornton 85 The height above mean sea level at the town centre is 300 feet 91 m 86 Temperatures in Glenrothes like the rest of Scotland are relatively moderate given its northern latitude Fife is a peninsula located between the Firth of Tay in the north the Firth of Forth in the south and the North Sea in the east Summers are relatively cool and the warming of the water over the summer results in warm winters Average annual temperatures in Glenrothes range from a maximum of 18 C 64 F to a minimum of 9 C 48 F 87 View towards Glenrothes seen from Lomond Hills Regional ParkA linked network of semi natural landscape areas throughout the town allow for a mix of biodiversity with different flora and fauna and wildlife habitats 85 88 Areas of ancient woodland are found in Riverside Park and Balbirnie Park both of which are also designated historic gardens and designed landscapes 89 Balbirnie Park is renowned for having a large collection of rhododendron species 14 Protected wildlife species found in the Glenrothes area include red squirrels 90 water voles 91 and various types of bats 92 Landscape areas also act as natural drainage systems reducing the likelihood of flooding in the built up areas of the town with rainwater flows channelled to the River Leven or to the Lochty Burn 93 Landscape planning has also ensured that Glenrothes road network with particular focuses on the town s many roundabouts provides green networks throughout the town 85 Built environment and urban form Edit Careful consideration was given to the form and infrastructure of the town focusing on the creation of individual suburban type neighbourhoods precincts each with their own architectural identity Engineers planners builders and architects were tasked with creating not only good quality mass produced housing but green spaces tree planting wildlife corridors and soft and hard landscaping This was seen as an equally important part of the process helping to provide a sense of place and connection to the land that a New Town was felt to need in order to become a successful place where people would want to live and raise children 94 Separating industry from housing areas in planned industrial estates was a key element of early plans 95 This was at the time seen as an important change from the chaotic congested and polluted industrial towns and cities of the previous centuries where cramped unsanitary housing and dirty industries were built in close proximity to one another The vision for Glenrothes was to provide a clean healthy and safe environment for the town s residents and much of the housing as in most other new towns especially in Scotland took the form of council housing built by the Glenrothes Development Corporation 31 The provision of council housing part of a nation wide trend towards this type of tenure gave the local development corporation an even greater overall ability to implement its vision of a planned built environment while also fulfilling one of the primary aims of the new towns to create affordable housing for workers in areas that were to be centres of new industry and economic growth 96 The new homes simultaneously provided affordable housing for people being relocated from crowded slum areas in the industrial Central Belt and Glasgow in particular though the latter was less of priority for Glenrothes initially compared to other Scottish new towns such as East Kilbride and Cumbernauld which were more specifically planned to fulfill a so called overspill function Early 1950s GDC housing at Woodside Road The settlement has been purposely planned using a series of masterplans Development of Glenrothes started in Woodside in the east and progressed westwards with the first town masterplan implemented as far as South Parks and Rimbleton housing precincts 97 98 Early neighbourhoods were based on Ebenezer Howard s Garden City philosophy using relatively tried and tested principles of town planning and architecture which is reflected in their housing styles and layouts 3 The first town masterplan sub divided the town s designated area into self contained residential precincts with their own primary schools local shops and community facilities consistent with other new towns being built elsewhere in the UK in the same period 31 A second town masterplan was then developed in the late 1960s following Glenrothes change of role and was to accommodate an increased population of 50 000 70 000 New areas of land in the north and south of the designated area were identified for new development 99 The road network was redsiegned and upgraded to deal with projected increases in car ownership and new housing estates were developed to the west then to the south and finally to the north of the designated area 100 The housing precincts of the 1960s and 1970s developed under the second masterplan departed slightly from the garden city ideals instead adopting Radburn principles separating as far as practical footpaths from roads The housing precincts were designed to better accommodate increases in car ownership which increased significantly from the 1960s onwards 101 The townscape changed in this period seeing more use of contemporary architectural styles of the time and newer forms of development layouts Terraced housing and blocks of flats were predominantly developed and housing designs also used flat roofed and mono pitch roof styles to create variety The fronts of houses were in many instances designed to face onto public footpaths and open spaces Car parking was kept either to the rear of properties or in parking bays located nearby in efforts to minimise conflict with pedestrians 101 Housing precincts from the 1980s onwards were largely developed by the private sector with the majority of this housing developed in low density suburban cul de sacs 85 Areas of structural planting tree belts and open spaces were purposely designed to blend housing and factories into the hillsides and local landscape 93 Geology Edit The Glenrothes area s geology is predominantly made up of glacial deposits with the subsoil largely consisting of boulder clay with a band of sand and gravel in the area to the north of the River Leven The river valley largely comprises alluvium deposits and there are also igneous intrusions of olivine dolerite throughout the area 102 Productive coal measures were largely recorded in the southern parts of Glenrothes approximately south of the line of the B921 Kinglassie road These coal measures form part of the East Fife coalfield and prior to 1962 the deposits there were to be worked by the Rothes Colliery until it was found that there were severe issues with water penetration and subsequent flooding Smaller limestone coal outcrops that had been historically worked were recorded around the Balbirnie and Cadham Balfarg areas with the land that is now Gilvenbank Park found particularly to be heavily undermined 102 Demography EditIn 1950 the population in the Glenrothes designated area was about 1 000 people located in the hamlets of Woodside and Cadham and in the numerous farm steadings that were spread throughout the area 103 Population growth in the early phases of the town was described as slow due to the dependence on the growth of jobs at the Rothes Colliery In 1960 the town population was shown to have increased to 12 499 people and it had risen to 28 098 by 1969 103 The fastest growth was between 1964 and 1969 with average inward migration of 1 900 persons per year 104 In 1981 Glenrothes population was estimated at 35 000 104 and at the time the GDC was disbanded in 1995 it was estimated to be just over 40 000 105 Glenrothes compared according to 2011 UK census 106 Glenrothes Fife ScotlandTotal population 39 277 365 198 5 295 403Percentage Scottish identity only 68 5 63 8 62 4 Over 75 years old 6 8 7 9 7 7 Unemployed 6 4 4 8 The 2001 census recorded the population of Glenrothes at 38 679 representing 11 of Fife s total population 107 The 2011 census recorded a 1 5 population rise to 39 277 108 The total population in the wider Glenrothes area was estimated at 49 817 in 23 596 households in 2022 61 of the population is of working age 16 64 years Glenrothes is similar to Fife for the percentage of homes which are owner occupied 62 social rented 25 or private rented 11 The Area has a higher employment rate 74 5 and a lower rate of those who are classed as economically inactive 21 8 than Fife Employment 10 9 and income deprivation 13 8 are just above the levels for Fife as a whole 91 9 of 16 19 year olds are participating in education employment or training showing similar patterns to Fife across all categories 109 The Glenrothes UK Parliament constituency Area s median weekly income was calculated at 559 10 residents earnings and 567 10 workplace earnings in 2022 110 The working age population of the town in 2011 was 29 079 as recorded by the census The percentage of population economically active in Glenrothes was recorded at 75 2 in 2021 111 The number of Jobseekers Allowance JSA and Universal Credit UC claimants at December 2022 in the Glenrothes area was 970 representing a 3 2 rate consistent with the Scottish average but lower than the Fife and UK averages of 3 4 and 3 7 112 Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation SIMD figures indicate that Auchmuty Cadham Collydean Macedonia and Tanshall areas in Glenrothes fall within the 20 most deprived communities category in Scotland 113 Economy EditThe Glenrothes area s economy predominantly comprises manufacturing and engineering industries service sector health and public sector jobs 6 In 2016 around 27 190 people were employed in the Glenrothes area 6 approximately 16 of the 164 500 jobs in Fife 114 Glenrothes is recognised for having the main concentration of advanced manufacturing and engineering companies in Fife 5 There are a total of 46 Top 200 Fife Businesses located in Glenrothes and there was a recorded 532 100 square metres 5 727 477 sq ft of industrial and business floorpace within the town s employment areas following a survey carried out in 2014 115 with the largest concentrations of premises in the south of the town and around the town centre 116 Major employment areas in Glenrothes include Bankhead Eastfield Pentland Park Queensway Southfield Viewfield Westwood Park and Whitehill 85 Industry Edit Glenrothes Industry Employed compared according to 2011 UK census 106 117 Glenrothes Fife ScotlandArea Committee 118 Total population 50 701 366 910 5 327 700All persons 16 74 in employment 23 493 167 326 2 516 895 Primary industry 3 0 2 4 3 3 Manufacturing 14 9 10 0 7 7 Utilities 1 3 1 4 1 6 Construction 8 2 8 2 8 0 Wholesale retail amp transport 19 4 18 6 19 9 Accommodation and food 4 8 5 6 6 3 ICT 2 2 3 0 2 7 Finance amp professional 15 6 19 1 20 1 Public sector 8 6 7 8 7 0 Education amp health sector 21 9 23 8 23 4 The 2011 census showed that manufacturing accounted for almost 15 of employment in Glenrothes 117 In 2015 this amounted to over 4 000 jobs in the local area or almost a third of all manufacturing jobs in Fife 119 A number of high tech industrial companies are located in the town largely specialised in electronics manufacturing making the Glenrothes area one of Scotland s largest clusterings of electronics companies 70 These are what remain of Silicon Glen operations in the area which gradually reduced and then consolidated since the peak in the late 1990s 85 Local companies specialised in this sector include Compugraphics which develops photomasks for the microelectronics sector 120 CTDI formally Regenersis which provides technology repair and test services 121 Leviton previously Brand Rex which produces fibre optic cabling 122 Raytheon which specialises in electronics for the defence industry and Semefab which produces Micro Electric Mechanical Systems MEMS 123 Other major companies which have established a base in Glenrothes include Bosch Rexroth hydraulics manufacturing FiFab precision engineering and Velux Window and Skylight Manufacturers 6 In 2013 Indian beverages group Kyndal entered into a joint venture with John Fergus amp Co Ltd to establish a new Scotch whisky distillery and bonded warehouse facility in Glenrothes The new distillery named Inchdairnie focuses on exporting to markets in India Africa and the Far East It opened in May 2016 creating 15 new jobs as well as generating new exports worth a predicted 3 6 million to Scotland over the next three years It is located at Whitehill Industrial Estate adjacent to Fife Airport 124 125 126 The distillery is one of the first in Scotland to embark on a significant decarbonisation programme and was awarded UK Government funding as part of a Green Distilleries Competition in January 2021 This will specifically focus on the potential to use hydrogen at the distillery to significantly decarbonise the process heat required The hydrogen could be produced two ways by converting the gas generated at the local AD plant to hydrogen onsite and through electrolysis of local renewables onsite This will reduce the overall carbon footprint of the distillery 127 128 Roof window manufacturer Velux announced in October 2018 that it was delivering a 7 million expansion to its UK and Ireland headquarters in Glenrothes The firm s head office building was renovated and a 3 500 square metre new build structure was developed alongside the existing office housing a customer service centre training facilities office space meeting suite and a staff restaurant Like the current building the extension showcases Velux products such as its modular skylight system flat roof windows and sun tunnels 129 In 2021 a new plastics recycling plant was delivered at Whitehill industrial Estate operated by Yes Recycling Group Other organisations including Nestle UK amp Ireland and Zero Waste Scotland have also been involved in the development of the plant and supermarket chain Morrisons has acquired a significant stake in the facility The plant has an initial capacity of 15 000 tonnes and will process hard to recycle soft plastic including chocolate wrappers crisp packets and food film Around 60 new jobs have been created following the opening of the facility 130 131 132 Retail leisure and service sectors Edit Kingdom Shopping Centre Retail jobs accounted for approximately 11 of the total number of jobs in the local economy in 2011 6 The majority of shopping retail services and administrative facilities in Glenrothes are concentrated in the town centre central business district With approximately 120 shop units the Kingdom Centre provides the largest concentration of retail and services in the town centre 133 New shop units were delivered at North Street in late 2018 early 2019 anchored by a M amp S foodhall 134 135 Community and commercial leisure facilities within the town centre include the Rothes Halls complex Glenrothes principal theatre library civic and exhibition centre A cinema restaurant pub and bingo hall complex are located adjacent to the Kingdom Centre at Carrick Gate Church Street 136 Ten pin bowling facilities are available at Albany Gate 137 138 A number of retail operators including the town s major supermarkets are also located in the Queensway business park located adjacent to the town centre 139 The town s largest retail employers Asda and Morrisons both trade from large stores there A retail park has also been constructed at the Saltire Centre approximately half of a mile 1 km to the southwest of the town centre containing major stores including Matalan and Homebase 140 An indoor trampoline centre also operates at the Saltire Retail Park 141 Other types of service industries also add to the town s economic mix with large single employers being in the accommodation and food services sector which accounted for around 4 of the town s total jobs 6 Balbirnie House Hotel and Balgeddie House Hotel a Best Western hotel are the largest hotel operators in the immediate area Budget hotel chains are also represented with Wetherspoons operating a hotel and pub the Golden Acorn Hotel in the town centre 142 Premier Inn Travelodge and Holiday Inn also operate hotels within Glenrothes Financial and professional services represent 15 6 of the total number of jobs 117 Offices are mainly concentrated in the town centre and at Pentland Park An enterprise hub facility was opened in the town centre in 2017 to act as a one stop shop supplying increased enterprise and business services to potential entrepreneurs in the local area 71 143 72 Police Scotland Fife Division HQ Viewfield Public and voluntary sectors Edit A number of public service and third sector agencies and authorities are based in Glenrothes contributing to the town s administrative centre function Police Scotland has established its Fife Division headquarters in Glenrothes at Viewfield 144 Scottish Environment Protection Agency SEPA Scottish Enterprise and Kingdom Housing Association a major Registered Social Landlord also have offices in Glenrothes at Pentland Park a business park within the town 145 Fife College is also a key employer in Glenrothes with a large campus based at Stenton Road adjacent to Viewfield Industrial Estate Fife Council is a major employer in the locality with its prominent local authority headquarters building located in Glenrothes town centre Many of the other council departments are contained in a number of the town centre s office blocks and a major depot and office facility is located at Bankhead in the former ADC building 80 Regeneration and future development Edit A range of development projects are proposed to regenerate the town centre steered by a masterplan that was approved by the Glenrothes Area Committee in March 2021 This seeks to address a variety of negative trends including addressing the loss of shops and a halving of office floorspace since the year 2000 Celebrating the unique legacy of public art bequeathed to the town introducing new business opportunities outwith the Kingdom Shopping Centre creating new public spaces including a new town square and supporting an enhanced evening economy are also identified in the masterplan 146 147 This supersedes an earlier Glenrothes town centre action plan that was approved at Glenrothes Area Committee in 2014 148 149 Older parts of the Kingdom Shopping Centre at Albany Gate are proposed to be demolished and redeveloped 150 151 Glenrothes is to be home to the UK s First 100 Green Data Centre which is to be built at Queensway Technology Park 152 Once complete this will represent a significant economic development for the area and will play a strategically important part in Scotland s IT infrastructure transformation as a whole The 40 million development will create over 300 construction jobs during the build process and up to 50 full time posts created on completion including technical and operational staff The facility will be the first of its kind in the UK drawing its energy from a renewable source with power coming directly from the RWE biomass plant in the town Queensway Data Centre will accommodate up to 1500 high performance computer racks offering the highest levels of resilience and data security The facility will be built to a BREEAM outstanding standard with a power usage effectiveness rating of less than 1 15 153 154 There are also proposals to support the regeneration of the western neighbourhoods centered around the Glenwood centre A charrette was held in 2017 facilitated by PAS and supported by design experts Fife Council and the Scottish Government This was intended to inform an action plan for the future of the area 155 156 Major housing developments are taking place in the area including at the former Tullis Russell papermills Cadham Road Markinch South and at Westwood Park which will deliver over a thousand new build homes between 2022 and 2030 157 The UK Government announced in January 2023 that Glenrothes will share 19 4m of Levelling up funding The money will go into the River Leven Regeneration project to make it an exemplar for a green economic recovery to meet climate and nature targets and a just transition to net zero It will also go to regeneration plans for Glenrothes and Leven town centres The improvements in Glenrothes Riverside Park include a new transport hub with electric charging bicycle hire information hub and enhanced accessible link to the Fife Pilgrim s Way 158 159 160 Culture and community Edit Ex Terra sculpture Public artworks Edit In 1968 Glenrothes was the first town in the UK to appoint a town artist This is now recognised as playing a significant role both in a Scottish and in an international context in helping to create the idea of art being a key factor in creating a sense of place 67 Two town artists David Harding 1968 78 and Malcolm Robertson 1978 91 were employed in the lifetime of the Glenrothes Development Corporation GDC 161 162 Both artists supported by a number of assistants created a large variety of artworks and sculptures that are scattered throughout the town 163 Other artists have also contributed to the creation of the town s artworks 94 The first sculpture erected in Glenrothes was Ex Terra created by Benno Schotz which was inspired by the town s motto Ex Terra Vis Latin meaning From the earth strength 164 The Good Samaritan sculpture in Riverside Park was produced by Edinburgh based sculptor Ronald Rae who was commissioned by the GDC to produce a piece of art work in celebration of the town s 40th anniversary in 1988 161 The concrete hippos scattered throughout the town were designed and created by Stanley Bonnar who went on to be the town artist at East Kilbride 165 166 Public parks and horticulture Edit The town has won numerous awards locally and nationally for the quality of its landscaping 61 64 something that is promoted by the Take a Pride in Glenrothes TAPIG group 62 The Glenrothes Development Corporation devoted around one third of land in Glenrothes to the provision of open space 93 As a consequence the town has numerous parks the largest being Balbirnie Park 14 Carleton Park 167 Gilvenbank Park 168 Riverside Park 169 and Warout Park 170 171 The Lomond Hills Regional Park borders and enters the town to the north and east 172 Civic and heritage facilities Edit Rothes Halls is the town s main theatre exhibition conference and civic centre 173 174 The town s main library and a cafe also form part of the complex The Rothes Halls was officially opened by actor and director Richard Wilson on 30 November 1993 Since then it has played host to a vast range of local national and international shows popular music and entertainment acts and amateur societies 175 It also hosts an annual Kingdom Of Fife Real Ale and Cider Festival the Glenrothes comic con and a science festival 176 177 178 Rothes Halls Kingdom Centre The Glenrothes amp Area Heritage Centre established a permanent base in November 2013 following a series of successful temporary exhibitions held previously in the town centre The heritage centre is run by local volunteers and operates from a shop unit in the Kingdom Shopping Centre It focuses on the history of the Glenrothes area from a period between the early 19th century to the late 20th century 179 A war memorial was constructed in Glenrothes in 2007 following the deaths of two local Black Watch soldiers in Iraq Prior to this Glenrothes was in the unusual position of not being able to host its own Remembrance Sunday commemorations Unlike traditional memorials the Glenrothes war memorial consists of two interlinking rings of standing stones 180 Community hospital facilities Edit Glenrothes Hospital is a community hospital located in the Forresters Lodge area to the northwest of the town centre Opened in October 1981 the hospital has over 80 nursing staff and over 60 beds as well as around 20 day hospital beds Glenrothes Hospital provides a wide range of services including speech and language therapy occupational therapy physiotherapy dietetics district nurses health visitors podiatry hospital pharmacy and x ray services There is however no accident and emergency service within this hospital 181 Social clubs organisations and community events EditThere are a number of social clubs and organisations operating within Glenrothes which contribute to the cultural and community offerings of the town These include an art club various youth clubs a floral art club amateur theatre groups a choral society and a variety of sports clubs 182 183 Glenrothes hosts an annual gala which is held at Warout Park and has a variety of family activities including a dog show highland dancing and a travelling funfair with stalls 184 Summer and winter festivals were held in Riverside Park in 2012 The summer festival included sporting events along with arts and crafts food stalls and fairground shows 185 The winter festival coincided with bonfire night celebrations and included the town s annual fireworks display which was previously held at Warout Park Markinch and Thornton each host an annual Highland Games 186 and the other surrounding villages host their own annual gala days and festivals 187 Riverside Park during the 2012 summer festival Sports facilities clubs and events Edit The town has a large variety of established sports and leisure facilities This includes two 18 hole golf courses Glenrothes and Balbirnie outdoor skateparks an indoor trampoline park an indoor ten pin bowling alley a football stadium at Warout Park private gyms and the Michael Woods Sports and Leisure Centre which is a major sports complex located in Viewfield 85 93 16 188 The Sports Centre was named after the late SNP Councillor Michael Woods in a controversial decision taken by the Glenrothes Area Committee in 2012 189 The sports centre was recognised for its architectural quality in the 2014 Scottish Property Awards coming second place in the Architectural Excellence Award for Public Buildings 190 In April 2018 a new state of the art indoor training facility was developed adjacent to the Michael Woods Sports and Leisure Centre the only facility of its kind in Fife The indoor arena features a 3G football pitch allowing for seven a side and five a side matches The facility which was funded by Fife Council and sportscotland at a cost of 2 3 million is also compliant for rugby training 191 Michael Woods Sports and Leisure Centre The town s football club is Glenrothes F C they compete in the East of Scotland League and play at Warout Stadium The local rugby club is Glenrothes RFC who are based at Carleton Park and there is also a local cricket club who play at Gilvenbank Park 192 16 193 The Road Running Festival in Glenrothes is the largest annual sporting event in the town with over 1500 people of all ages and levels of fitness taking part and has been held annually since 1983 194 The town is also an established destination in hosting the BDO British International Championships for darts which are held annually at the town s CISWO club 195 196 197 Town twinning Edit Glenrothes has a twin town link with Boblingen a city in Baden Wurttemberg in Germany since 1971 198 As early as 1962 a local councillor had suggested that the town might twin with a town on the Continent 199 Some years later a friendship grew up between teachers at Glenrothes High School and the Gymnasium in Boblingen which eventually led to the twinning of the towns Since then there have been a number of exchanges on official club and personal levels 199 Notable residents Edit Famous people associated with the town include the actor Dougray Scott who grew up in Glenrothes and attended Auchmuty High School Douglas Mason known as one of the engineers of the Thatcher revolution and the father of the poll tax set up home in Glenrothes in the 1960s and spent most of his adult life living there 200 Henry McLeish the former First Minister of Scotland lived in Glenrothes having been brought up in nearby Kennoway Glenrothes town centre is home to the building involved in the notorious Officegate scandal which ultimately led to McLeish s resignation as First Minister in 2001 Tricia Marwick the first female Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament served as MSP for Glenrothes 201 202 John Wallace CBE born in nearby Methilhill like many of his extended family played in the Tullis Russell Mills Band his father worked as a joiner in the late Tullis Russell Paper Mills He became the only Scot to hold the position of Principal of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland between 2002 and 2014 203 The town has also been home to current and former professional football players including Kevin McHattie Inverness Caledonian Thistle and previously Hearts Billy MacKay formally Rangers and Hearts and David Speedie formally Chelsea Liverpool Sergeant were a four piece indie rock band established in Glenrothes In 2007 they signed a contract with Mercury Records and played at number of musical festivals including T in the Park and Glastonbury The band also supported Oasis on four Scottish dates and also the Fratellis on their full UK tour Landmarks Edit Giant Irises Leslie Roundabout The River Leven Bridge which spans Riverside Park and carries the town s Western Distributor Road is a cable stayed bridge that was completed in 1995 The bridge was designed by Dundee based Nicoll Russell Studios Architects and was commissioned by the Glenrothes Development Corporation GDC as a landmark creating a gateway into Riverside Park that could be seen from further afield 204 The bridge was constructed by Balfour Beatty Construction Scotland and it was the first reinforced concrete cable stayed structure ever built in the UK 205 A number of Glenrothes artworks and sculptures act as landmarks at major gateways into the town such as the Giant Irises at Leslie Roundabout and the Glenrothes Gateway Totum at Bankhead Roundabout 85 Former town artist Malcolm Robertson produced the Giant Irises sculpture as Glenrothes contribution to the Glasgow Garden Festival The sculpture was the winner of the John Brown Clydebank award for the Most Original and Amusing Artifact and following the festival it was re erected at Leslie Roundabout 161 206 A number of other sculptures were relocated in 2011 to more visually prominent locations around the town creating new landmarks 207 208 Four pieces of Glenrothes artworks have been awarded listed status by Historic Scotland 209 Ex Terra has been listed at Category B 210 and The Birds The Henge and Work or Industry Past and Present at Category C 211 212 213 Historic Scotland has also produced a website a video and an information brochure dedicated to the Glenrothes town art 67 St Paul s R C Church Glenrothes The town is also home to a number of churches which act as important landmarks due to their unique architectural styles and sometimes their locations at key road junctions The three earliest churches are now listed buildings These are St Margaret s Church 214 in Woodside category C listed St Paul s RC Church 215 in Auchmuty category A listed and St Columba s Church 216 on Church Street category A listed in the town centre 139 217 218 St Paul s RC was designed by architects Gillespie Kidd and Coia 139 217 219 In 1993 it was listed as one of sixty key monuments of post war architecture by the international conservation organisation DoCoMoMo The church sits at a junction between two main distributor roads St Columba s Church designed by architects Wheeler amp Sproson underwent significant restoration in 2009 220 221 Internally the church contains a large mural created by Alberto Morrocco titled The Way of the Cross which was completed in 1962 Externally the church with its distinctive triangular iron bell tower and Mondrian inspired stained glass windows 222 acts as a landmark at the south western gateway to the town centre Balgonie Castle located to the east of Glenrothes on the south bank of the River Leven near Milton of Balgonie and Coaltown of Balgonie is also a local landmark The castle keep dates from the 14th century and the remaining structures were added piecemeal until the 18th century The keep has been recently restored although other parts of the castle are roofless ruins The castle was awarded category A listing in 1972 by Historic Scotland 223 Education Edit The new Auchmuty High School completed summer 2013 Early precincts in the town were served by their own primary schools which were to be provided on the basis of one school for every 1 000 houses 224 The first primary school to be opened in Glenrothes was Carleton Primary School built in 1953 in Woodside 31 In total thirteen primary schools were developed in the town twelve non denominational and one to serve catholic pupils 85 224 In February 2014 Fife Council s executive committee voted to close one of Glenrothes primary schools at Tanshall as part of a wider school estate review which sought to reduce costs The closure faced considerable local opposition and the proposals were called in by the Scottish Government but ultimately the closure of the school went ahead as planned and it was demolished in 2016 225 There are three secondary schools in Glenrothes the earliest of which is Auchmuty High School opened in 1957 Secondary Schools were to be provided on the basis of one school for every 4 000 houses 224 Glenwood High School was built in 1962 to serve the western precincts Prior to 1966 older pupils had to attend schools in neighbouring towns to continue Higher examinations as Auchmuty and Glenwood only provided for pupils at junior secondary level 226 Glenrothes High School was built in 1966 to accommodate pupils at a higher level However changes in the education system nationally meant that both Auchmuty and Glenwood were raised to full high school status in the 1970s 227 228 Auchmuty High School serves the east and southern parts of Glenrothes as well as the villages of Markinch Coaltown of Balgonie and Thornton 229 As part of the 126 million Building Fife s Future Project a replacement for Auchmuty was completed and opened to pupils in 2013 230 Glenrothes High School serves the central and northern areas in the town 231 Glenwood High School serves the western parts of Glenrothes and the villages of Leslie and Kinglassie 232 Catholic pupils in Glenrothes attend St Andrew s High School in neighbouring Kirkcaldy 233 Fife College Glenrothes Campus Further education in the town is provided at Fife College Construction of a Glenrothes college campus began in the early 1970s originally specialising in paper manufacturing mechanical engineering and electrical engineering courses A second institute known as FIPRE Fife Institute of Physical and Recreational Education was built adjacent catering for sport and physical education as well as providing a sports centre for the town 224 The Glenrothes campus of the college is located at Stenton Road in Viewfield 234 This was significantly extended in 2010 with the development of the Future Skills Centre It includes departments in engineering construction renewables and science to cater for emerging industries specialising in renewable energy and low carbon technologies as well as provide training for major engineering projects 235 Transport Edit Glenrothes Bus Station Glenrothes has a planned road network with original masterplans establishing the principle that through traffic be bypassed around the housing precincts by a network of Freeway and Highway distributor roads These would connect each precinct to the purposely designed town centre and to the industrial estates 236 Another element that was adopted was the use of roundabouts at junctions instead of traffic lights which would allow traffic to flow freely 236 The town has direct dual carriageway access to the M90 via the A92 Trunk Road The A92 passes north south through the town and connects Glenrothes with Dundee in the north and Dunfermline in the southwest where it merges with the M90 This gives Glenrothes a continuous dual carriageway link to Edinburgh and the major central Scotland road networks whilst much of the route north to Dundee remains a single carriageway 3 Local campaigners have for a number of years sought the upgrade of the A92 north of Glenrothes 237 The A911 road passes east west through the town and connects it with Levenmouth in the east and Milnathort and the M90 in the west 238 The B921 Kinglassie Road described in early masterplans as the Southern Freeway 236 links Glenrothes to the former mining communities of Cardenden and Kinglassie and to Westfield The route is a dual carriageway between Bankhead Roundabout and as far west as Fife Airport Early masterplans show that this route was originally intended to be upgraded to provide dualled connections to the A92 Chapel junction in Kirkcaldy 236 however this has never been implemented Fife Glenrothes Airport The town has a major bus station in the town centre providing frequent links to the cities of Dundee Edinburgh Glasgow and Perth as well as to surrounding towns and villages 239 Two railway stations on the edge of the main town serve the Glenrothes area Glenrothes with Thornton railway station and Markinch railway station 238 Glenrothes is home to an airfield Fife Airport ICAO code EGPJ which is used for general aviation with private light aircraft 240 Edinburgh Airport is the nearest international airport to Glenrothes Dundee Airport operates daily flights to London Birmingham and Belfast 241 A purposely designed pedestrian and cycle system 242 was also created using a network of ring and radial routes throughout the town 236 This includes a near three mile continuous linear cycle path called Boblingen Way which extends across the length of Glenrothes from Leslie in the west to Woodside in the east 243 Glenrothes is connected to the National Cycle Network via Route 766 which runs north from Kirkcaldy to north of Glenrothes linking to the wider network via Route 76 and Route 1 244 The Fife Pilgrim Way is a long distance walking route covering a distance of around 64 miles between Culross connecting a number of Fife s villages towns and countryside and terminating in St Andrews The route passes through Glenrothes on a section of the route between Kinglassie in the southwest and Markinch in the east 245 References EditNotes Edit Ainmean Aite na h Alba AAA Gaelic Place Names of Scotland Ainmean Aite na h Alba Retrieved 7 May 2018 Mid 2020 Population Estimates for Settlements and Localities in Scotland National Records of Scotland 31 March 2022 Retrieved 31 March 2022 a b c d e Cowling 1997 pp 34 38 a b Queensway Technology amp Business Park investinfife co uk Retrieved 3 January 2018 a b Fife Investment Prospectus Invest in Fife November 2013 pp 14 15 Retrieved 19 November 2013 a b c d e f Glenrothes Area Economy and Employability Activity Update 2016 17 PDF Fife Council 31 January 2018 p 3 Retrieved 26 January 2018 a b Ferguson 1982 pp 56 59 Ferguson 1996 p 11 a b c Cowling 1997 pp 25 31 a b Reid 2004 pp 6 41 Radiocarbon date Sample number GaK 3425 Archaeology Data Service Retrieved 29 June 2011 National Monuments Record of Scotland NO20SE 5 Archaeology Data Service Retrieved 29 June 2011 a b c d Ferguson 1982 pp 2 3 a b c Balbirnie Park Fife Council Retrieved 6 January 2010 Balbirnie House Listed Building Report Historic Scotland Retrieved 7 June 2011 a b c d Ferguson 1996 pp 64 68 Course History Balbirnie Park Golf Course Retrieved 7 June 2011 Ferguson 1982 p 19 Balbirnie Stable Block Listed Building Report Historic Scotland Retrieved 7 June 2011 Balgeddie House Listed Building Report Historic Scotland Retrieved 7 June 2011 Glenrothes Development Corporation 1970 pp 14 15 Leslie House Listed Building Report Historic Scotland Retrieved 7 June 2011 Leslie House restoration finally under way The Courier Dundee 9 September 2021 Retrieved 31 October 2022 New Town Site Approved The Glasgow Herald 27 July 1948 p 3 Retrieved 24 December 2017 a b c d Ferguson 1996 p 7 Omand 2000 p 90 Ferguson 1996 p 23 Ferguson 1996 p 25 Ferguson 1982 p 62 Cadham Village Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan PDF Archived from the original PDF on 18 August 2016 Retrieved 16 October 2015 a b c d Glenrothes Development Corporation 1966 pp 2 4 Glenrothes Development Corporation 1970 pp 14 15 a b Ferguson 1982 pp 30 31 a b Ferguson 1982 pp 25 31 Papermaking restarts as Fettykil Mill comes back to life The Courier 24 November 2010 Retrieved 12 February 2011 Scotland Building for the Future Industry and Infrastructure Historic Scotland pp 46 amp 47 Retrieved 20 February 2015 a b Ferguson 1982 pp 51 55 Rothes Colliery Northern Mine Research Society Retrieved 9 December 2022 Rothes colliery 50 years on BBC News 4 January 2013 Retrieved 31 January 2013 Ferguson 1996 pp 24 32 Keystone Pictures USA 1972 Roe at criminal court at Lausanne Alamy Retrieved 16 May 2022 Thomas Chambers Windsor Roe 50 English trustee of big money and man of confidence commander of the Order of the Empire faces criminal court at Lausanne on the charges of attempted circulation of fake dollar bills of an amount of 1 25 million Swiss franks Other charges in the manner of fraud will probably not put against him in Switzerland but later in England OPS Thomas Roe at right during recession at the criminal court at Lausanne A uniformed policeman and a detective do not move from his side No 44383 The London Gazette 8 August 1967 p 8715 The Times Wednesday Aug 09 1967 pg 1 Issue 57015 col E Cadco man s CBE cancelled LORAINE v UNITED STATES 396 F 2d 335 9th Cir Judgment Law casemine com Retrieved 16 May 2022 Recommendation for Award for Roe Thomas Chambers Windsor Rank Major nationalarchives gov uk 1945 Retrieved 16 May 2022 Nonfiction Book Review The Quest for Graham Greene A Biography by W J West www publishersweekly com 1 February 1998 Retrieved 16 May 2022 West W J 1998 The quest for Graham Greene 1st U S ed New York St Martin s Press ISBN 978 0 312 18161 1 Aline Thorn nee Pease Countess of Inchcape later Roe National Portrait Gallery Retrieved 16 May 2022 Pacific Stars And Stripes Feb 4 1967 p 9 NewspaperArchive com 4 February 1967 Retrieved 16 May 2022 Deeley Peter How Cadco betrayed the hopes of the jobless The Observer London England The Guardian Retrieved 16 May 2022 via Newspapers com Cadco affair remembered 50 years on Fife Today 22 May 2013 Retrieved 10 February 2017 Cadco amp Glenrothes 50 Years Ago Drop in Day at Archive www fifedirect org uk 28 May 2013 Retrieved 10 February 2017 New book tells of scandal that rocked Glenrothes Fife Today 27 April 2011 Retrieved 10 February 2017 a b Ferguson 1996 pp 35 38 Cowling 1997 p 102 Ferguson 1982 pp 116 117 Ferguson 1996 pp 89 90 Hi tech jobs boost for Scotland BBC News 28 February 2000 Retrieved 31 March 2011 Arnold James 19 November 2003 The Death and Rebirth of Silicon Glen BBC News Retrieved 1 June 2011 Jamieson Bill 26 January 2006 Silicon Glen meltdown drags manufacturing into recession The Scotsman Retrieved 1 June 2011 Omand 2000 pp 101 102 New towns and garden cities lessons for tomorrow appendix the new towns five minute fact sheets PDF Town and Country Planning Association December 2014 p 13 Archived from the original PDF on 14 February 2017 Retrieved 25 July 2016 A Holiday in Glenrothes Exhibition at The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland www e architect co uk 20 June 2008 Retrieved 18 September 2014 A Holiday in Glenrothes www sylviagborda com Retrieved 18 September 2014 Secondary Schools A Holiday in Glenrothes Sylvia Grace Borda www scottishcivictrust org uk Archived from the original on 22 August 2016 Retrieved 18 September 2014 a b The Carbuncle Awards 2009 www urbanrealm com Retrieved 4 May 2017 The most dismal town in Scotland The Times 30 January 2009 Retrieved 8 February 2011 Depressed town wins Plook award BBC News 29 January 2009 Retrieved 14 May 2010 What s up in down towns www urbanrealm com 25 June 2009 Retrieved 4 May 2017 a b Beautiful Scotland Award Winners 2010 www beautifulscotland org 30 September 2010 Archived from the original on 7 October 2010 Retrieved 20 December 2010 a b Glenrothes in Bloom Group Fife Council Archived from the original on 11 August 2013 Retrieved 21 March 2011 2011 RHS Britain in Bloom UK Finals RHS Britain in Bloom 26 September 2011 p 2 Retrieved 26 September 2011 a b Blooming town title for Glenrothes in Fife BBC News 29 September 2011 Retrieved 30 September 2011 2013 RHS Britain in Bloom UK Finals RHS Britain in Bloom 26 September 2013 p 2 Archived from the original on 1 January 2014 Retrieved 31 December 2013 2014 RHS Britain in Bloom UK Finals RHS Britain in Bloom October 2014 pp 3 amp 48 Retrieved 21 November 2014 a b c New Glenrothes town walk celebrates legacy of outstanding public art Historic Environment Scotland 29 November 2011 Retrieved 31 August 2021 A Holyrood stitch up the people s contribution to great tapestry project celebrated The Scottish Parliament 9 March 2016 Retrieved 7 July 2016 Glenrothes Great Tapestry of Scotland complete Panel Alex Hewitt Photography Retrieved 7 July 2016 a b Invest in Fife Annual Report 2015 16 PDF www investinfife co uk p 4 Retrieved 9 August 2017 a b Fife Task Force Update Report pp 52 67 to Glenrothes Area Committee by the Head of Economy Planning amp Employability Services PDF Fife Council 11 November 2015 Archived from the original PDF on 4 March 2016 Retrieved 5 November 2015 a b Enterprise Hub Fife enterprisehubfife co uk Retrieved 14 March 2017 Neil Henderson 14 January 2021 Work Starts on First Homes set to Transform Vast Former Tullis Russell Site The Courier Retrieved 17 February 2022 Glenrothes Energy Network wins award RWE Generation SE Retrieved 27 September 2022 Glenrothes Heat takes an important step forward investinfife co uk 6 March 2017 Retrieved 14 March 2017 Glenrothes Heat investinfife co uk Retrieved 14 March 2017 Scotland s first 100 renewable biomass heat and power district network opens Scottish Construction Now Retrieved 26 April 2019 Glenrothes Local Representatives Fife Council Retrieved 13 January 2010 Reserved and devolved matters Scotland Office Archived from the original on 12 May 2008 Retrieved 14 June 2009 a b Council buildings in Glenrothes PDF Fife Council Archived from the original PDF on 1 February 2014 Retrieved 28 November 2012 Ferguson 1982 p 91 General Election 2015 Peter Grant claims Glenrothes for SNP www thecourier co uk 8 May 2015 Retrieved 8 May 2015 Report on the First Periodic Review of Scottish Parliament boundaries PDF TSO The Stationery Office May 2010 pp 159 162 Retrieved 2 April 2011 Cowling 1997 p 30 a b c d e f g h i Cowling 1982 pp 44 47 Glenrothes Development Corporation 1966 p 12 Annual Climate Glenrothes Scotland UK Weather Retrieved 29 November 2012 Ferguson 1982 pp 61 62 Fife Biodiversity Action Plan Local Habitat Action Plan Ancient Semi Natural amp Long Established Woodlands PDF Fife Coast and Countryside Trust Archived from the original PDF on 13 December 2010 Retrieved 25 July 2011 Local Species Action Plan Red Squirrels PDF Fife Coast and Countryside Trust Archived from the original PDF on 17 March 2012 Retrieved 11 August 2011 Local Species Action Plan Water Vole PDF Fife Coast and Countryside Trust Archived from the original PDF on 17 March 2012 Retrieved 11 August 2011 Local Species Action Plan Bats PDF Fife Coast and Countryside Trust Archived from the original PDF on 17 March 2012 Retrieved 11 August 2011 a b c d Glenrothes Development Corporation 1970 pp 97 98 a b Town Art in Glenrothes Fife Council 15 December 2009 Retrieved 30 November 2012 Glenrothes Development Corporation 1970 p 37 Keith Kintrea Rebecca Madgin 18 December 2019 Transforming Glasgow Beyond the Post Industrial City Policy Press ISBN 978 1 4473 4980 8 Ferguson 1982 pp 70 71 Ferguson 1982 pp 84 87 Glenrothes Development Corporation 1970 p 90 Glenrothes Development Corporation 1970 p 52 a b Ferguson 1996 pp 36 38 a b Glenrothes Development Corporation 1970 pp 26 29 a b Glenrothes Development Corporation 1970 p 49 a b Glenrothes Development Corporation 1983 pp 16 17 Ferguson 1996 p 106 a b Scotland s Census 2011 Glenrothes Locality www scotlandscensus gov uk 2011 Retrieved 11 December 2013 Comparative Population Glenrothes Locality www scrol co uk 2001 Archived from the original on 7 March 2012 Retrieved 20 February 2011 Scotland s Census 2011 Glenrothes Locality Area Profile www scotlandscensus gov uk 2011 Retrieved 11 December 2013 PDF Fife Council Research Team p 3 https know fife scot data assets pdf file 0019 363340 LSA 2022 Glenrothes DRAFT v2 pdf Retrieved 25 January 2023 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a Missing or empty title help Fife Local Area Economic Profile June 2022 PDF Invest Fife Fife Council 2022 p 11 Retrieved 25 January 2023 Glenrothes Area Economic Profile PDF Invest Fife Fife Council 2021 p 2 Retrieved 30 June 2021 Monthly Economic Update December 2022 PDF InvestFife p 2 Retrieved 25 January 2023 Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2020 Scottish Government Retrieved 29 January 2021 Fife Business PDF Fife Council Economy Planning and Employability Services October 2016 p 3 Retrieved 13 October 2017 Employment Land in Glenrothes Area Report to Glenrothes Area Committee pp 52 63 Appendix 1 PDF Fife Council September 2015 pp 60 61 Archived from the original PDF on 4 March 2016 Retrieved 3 September 2015 Investment Zones Fife Council 24 November 2010 Retrieved 31 May 2011 a b c Glenrothes Area Committee General Profile knowfife fife gov uk 2014 Retrieved 19 December 2014 Glenrothes Area Committee Map PDF Fife Council Archived from the original PDF on 3 March 2016 Retrieved 5 January 2015 The Manufacturing Industry in Fife Sector Profile 2017 PDF Fife Council Retrieved 14 December 2017 Compugraphics Company Profile Retrieved 4 August 2014 Regenersis Company Profile Retrieved 30 July 2014 Brand Rex Company Profile Retrieved 24 February 2011 Semefab Company Profile www semefab co uk Retrieved 24 February 2011 Kyndal Group to partner with John Fife amp Co to establish 6 7 million distillery project www investinfife co uk 14 October 2013 Retrieved 25 April 2014 Inchdairnie spiritedmatters com Retrieved 5 October 2017 InchDairnie distillery inchdairniedistillery com Retrieved 5 October 2017 10 Green Distilleries Hydrogen Feasibility Studies Announced www investfife co uk Retrieved 19 February 2021 Green distilleries competition projects selected for phase 1 www gov uk Retrieved 19 February 2021 7m Fife expansion in frame for Velux www scotsman com 4 October 2018 Retrieved 9 October 2018 Yes Recycling About Us Yes Recycling Group Retrieved 1 March 2023 Morrisons acquires significant stake in soft plastics plant www letsrecycle com Retrieved 1 March 2023 Up to 60 Fife jobs created as pioneering new recycling facility opens www thecourier co uk Retrieved 1 March 2023 Kingdom Shopping Centre Glenrothes Retail Brochure PDF ukproperty cushwakeproperty com 2014 Retrieved 23 November 2015 10m project to breathe life into Glenrothes town centre www scottishconstructionnow com 9 April 2018 Retrieved 9 April 2018 Concept drawing shows new M amp S at heart of new look Glenrothes town centre The Courier 6 September 2016 Retrieved 8 September 2016 Fife film fans welcome KINO Cinema The Courier 26 August 2010 Retrieved 27 August 2010 Pro Bowl to Open Forth Centre in Scotland talktenpin net Retrieved 4 February 2015 New bowling alley in Glenrothes strikes a positive note for town The Courier 19 December 2016 Retrieved 19 December 2016 a b c Cowling 1997 p 41 Saltire Retail Park Profile PDF www pradera com Retrieved 24 February 2011 Xtreme trampoline park Retrieved 25 August 2022 The Golden Acorn Glenrothes www jdwetherspoon co uk Retrieved 25 April 2014 2 million support for Fife business The Scottish Government 4 November 2015 Archived from the original on 3 February 2016 Retrieved 5 November 2015 Fife Local Policing Plan 2014 PDF Police Scotland Retrieved 4 November 2014 Ferguson 1996 p 57 Neil Henderson 21 March 2021 Glenrothes Masterplan First glimpse of how town could transform over next decade The Courier Retrieved 5 April 2021 Glenrothes Town Centre Masterplan Report to Glenrothes Area Committee by the Head of Business and Employability PDF Fife Council Retrieved 5 April 2021 Glenrothes Town Centre Action Plan Update Joint report to Glenrothes Area Committee by the Head of Enterprise Planning amp Protective Services and Senior Manager Policy Communications amp Area Management Corporate Services pp17 33 Fife Council Retrieved 29 August 2014 Neil Henderson 12 March 2014 Update on Glenrothes town centre regeneration plan Fife Today Glenrothes Gazette Retrieved 29 August 2014 Neil Henderson 24 February 2016 Kingdom Centre Co op demolition will create huge potential Fife Today Glenrothes Gazette Retrieved 27 April 2016 Councillor almost ready for dance of happiness as start date given for Glenrothes redevelopment The Courier 14 December 2016 Retrieved 16 December 2016 Queensway Park Data Centre Campus www qpdc co uk Retrieved 11 May 2017 The UK s First 100 Green Data Centre is Coming to Scotland www investinfife co uk 16 April 2014 Retrieved 25 April 2014 Work starts on Scotland s largest data centre campus Fife Economy Partnership 21 January 2016 Archived from the original on 29 January 2016 Retrieved 23 January 2016 Golden Glenrothes Outcomes PAS Retrieved 2 May 2022 Neil Henderson 22 March 2017 Council consider 2m shopping centre buy out Fife Today Retrieved 12 May 2017 Fife Housing Land Audit 2022 Schedule 1a Effective Housing Land Supply 2022 by SESplan Housing Market Area Glenrothes Markinch PDF Fife Council Retrieved 25 January 2023 Levelling Up Fund Fife Council Retrieved 2 May 2023 Allan Crow 19 January 2023 Levelling up 19 4m funding for key Fife projects Fife Today Retrieved 2 May 2023 Levelling up fund of 19 4m million unveiled to boost Fife projects Fife Council Retrieved 2 May 2023 a b c Ferguson 1996 p 63 Neil Henderson 30 September 2015 Malcolm Robertson last of the great town artists Fife Today Retrieved 6 December 2016 Glenrothes Town Art www historic scotland gov uk 29 November 2011 Retrieved 30 November 2012 Ferguson 1996 p 96 Glenrothes hippos to take centre stage in new BBC documentary from Mark Bonnar www thecourier co uk 21 August 2021 Retrieved 23 August 2021 The Glenrothes Hippos Learn More About the Hippos PDF Edinburgh INternational Book Festival ReImagiNation Retrieved 31 March 2023 Carleton Park Fife Council Retrieved 6 January 2010 Gilvenbank Park Fife Council Retrieved 6 January 2010 Riverside Park Fife Council Retrieved 6 January 2010 Factsheet 12 Glenrothes PDF Fife Council pp 22 23 Retrieved 8 April 2011 Glenrothes Area Fife Greenspace Audit Glenrothes Area Committee PDF Fife Council September 2009 Retrieved 30 November 2012 Lomond Hills Regional Park Fife Council Retrieved 6 January 2010 Rothes Halls Glenrothes Fife Council Retrieved 14 May 2010 Lindsey Alexander 26 November 2014 Rothes Halls comes of age Fife Today Glenrothes Gazette Retrieved 26 November 2014 Rothes Halls History Fife Cultural Trust Retrieved 18 December 2014 Glenrothes Comic Con OnFife Retrieved 9 August 2018 Real Ale amp Cider Festival OnFife Retrieved 9 August 2018 Fife Science Festival Dundee Science Centre Retrieved 9 August 2018 Glenrothes Heritage Centre Glenrothes amp Area Heritage Centre Retrieved 30 November 2012 New town finally has war memorial BBC News 22 October 2009 Retrieved 1 August 2010 Glenrothes Hospital NHS Fife Retrieved 10 July 2015 Your Town Glenrothes Retrieved 17 March 2009 Ferguson 1996 p 71 Glenrothes Gala www fifecouncil co uk Retrieved 21 August 2010 Riverside Park Summer Festival www fifedirect org uk Retrieved 15 February 2013 Markinch Highland Games www welcometoscotland com Retrieved 21 August 2010 Riverside Park Winter Festival www fifedirect org uk Retrieved 15 February 2013 Scotland s New Buildings Michael Woods Sports amp Leisure Centre www urbanrealm com Retrieved 10 April 2014 Council leader brings an end to Glenrothes sports centre naming saga The Courier Dundee 26 November 2012 Retrieved 5 April 2013 Scottish Property Awards Winners 2014 kdmedia co uk Retrieved 27 March 2014 Craig Smith 7 April 2018 New state of the art indoor training arena opens in Fife The Courier Retrieved 26 October 2018 Glenrothes Cricket Club Retrieved 21 September 2017 Ferguson 1996 p 103 Glenrothes Road Running Festival Fife Council Retrieved 14 June 2011 Neil Henderson 13 April 2016 Bullseye for Glenrothes thanks to championship darts fans Glenrothes Gazette Retrieved 13 April 2016 Magnificent move for Glenrothes social club all but signed and sealed The Courier Dundee 13 April 2016 Retrieved 12 April 2016 Neil Henderson 2 August 2017 Fife town set to become the darts capital of Scotland Fife Today Retrieved 2 August 2017 Civic Affairs Town Twinning Fife Council Retrieved 20 February 2011 a b Ferguson 1982 pp 104 106 Douglas Mason Obituary The Guardian 16 December 2004 Retrieved 3 December 2011 Tricia Marwick MSP elected as the Scottish Parliament s first female Presiding Officer The Scottish Parliament 11 May 2011 Retrieved 28 November 2012 Tricia Marwick makes commitment to Mid Fife and Glenrothes constituency The Courier Dundee 14 May 2011 Retrieved 28 November 2012 John Wallace CBE Emeritus Professor Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Retrieved 28 November 2022 Concrete Quarterly autumn 1996 River Leven Bridge Glenrothes PDF Concrete Centre p 10 Archived from the original PDF on 5 July 2011 Retrieved 31 July 2011 Leven Crossing Fife www nrsarchitects com Retrieved 31 July 2011 Places Glenrothes Town Art PDF Historic Scotland p 10 Retrieved 30 November 2011 Glenrothes town art row flares up again after another sculpture goes walkabout The Courier Dundee Retrieved 5 April 2013 Funding approved for re location of Town Art Fife Council 10 December 2010 Retrieved 14 December 2010 Glenrothes Town Art Area Committee Report Fife Council 1 September 2011 Retrieved 9 October 2010 Ex Terra Glenrothes Listed Building Report Historic Scotland Retrieved 21 December 2011 The Birds Glenrothes Listed Building Report Historic Scotland Retrieved 21 December 2011 The Henge Glenrothes Listed Building Report Historic Scotland Retrieved 21 December 2011 Work or Industry Past and Present Glenrothes Listed Building Report Historic Scotland Retrieved 21 December 2011 St Margaret s Church Listed Building Report Historic Scotland Retrieved 6 June 2011 St Paul s Church Listed Building Report Historic Scotland Retrieved 6 June 2011 St Columba s Church Listed Building Report Historic Scotland Retrieved 6 June 2011 a b Ferguson 1996 p 61 Scotland Building for the Future Places of Worship PDF Historic Scotland pp 63 65 Retrieved 14 May 2010 Gillespie Kidd amp Coia St Paul s Glenrothes 1956 Willie Miller Retrieved 15 May 2010 1 1 million in lottery funds awarded to Scottish churches Urban Realm Retrieved 25 August 2009 Scotland Building for the Future Protecting our Heritage PDF Historic Scotland pp 96 97 Retrieved 15 May 2010 Scotland Building for the Future Places of Worship PDF Historic Scotland p 65 Retrieved 14 May 2010 Balgonie Castle Listed Building Report Historic Scotland Retrieved 2 April 2015 a b c d Glenrothes Development Corporation 1970 pp 107 108 Parents Vow to Keep Fighting to Save Tanshall Primary After Closure Move The Courier Retrieved 9 May 2014 Ferguson 1982 p 75 Ferguson 1982 p 102 Ferguson 1996 pp 45 46 Auchmuty High School Fife Council Retrieved 27 July 2010 Scotland s New Buildings Auchmuty High School www urbanrealm com Retrieved 10 April 2014 Glenrothes High School Fife Council Retrieved 27 July 2010 Glenwood High School Fife Council Retrieved 27 July 2010 St Andrews High School Kirkcaldy Fife Council Retrieved 27 July 2010 Adam Smith College Campus Info Adam Smith College 22 September 2006 Retrieved 30 December 2009 MP Praises Adam Smith Commitment to Renewables www adamsmith ac uk 26 March 2010 Archived from the original on 29 March 2010 Retrieved 6 April 2010 a b c d e Glenrothes Development Corporation 1970 pp 43 45 A92 campaigners urged to make economic case for improvements The Courier Dundee 22 March 2014 Retrieved 27 March 2014 a b Cowling 1997 pp 28 29 Glenrothes Bus Station Fife Council Retrieved 4 January 2010 Fife Airport Information Fife Airport Retrieved 28 January 2011 Dundee Airport Information www hial co uk Archived from the original on 26 January 2010 Retrieved 30 December 2009 Glenrothes Cycle Ways Fife Council Archived from the original on 4 March 2012 Retrieved 8 January 2011 Multi million plan to promote cycling in Glenrothes www thecourier co uk Retrieved 25 May 2015 sustrans map of National Cycle Network sustrans Retrieved 5 October 2015 Fife Pilgrim Way Kinglassie to Markinch Fife Coast and Countryside Trust Retrieved 1 December 2022 Bibliography Edit Cowling David 1997 An Essay for Today The Scottish New Towns 1947 1997 1st ed Edinburgh Rutland Press ISBN 1 873190 47 6 Ferguson Keith 1982 A History of Glenrothes 1st ed Glenrothes Glenrothes Development Corporation ASIN B001P4JSI0 Ferguson Keith 1996 A New Town s Heritage Glenrothes 1948 1995 1st ed Glenrothes Glenrothes Development Corporation ISBN 0 9502603 4 7 Glenrothes Development Corporation 1966 Glenrothes A Guide to Scotland s New Town in Fife Glenrothes Glenrothes Development Corporation Glenrothes Development Corporation 1970 Glenrothes New Town Masterplan Report Glenrothes Glenrothes Development Corporation OCLC 156675029 Glenrothes Development Corporation 1983 Glenrothes Development Profile Glenrothes Glenrothes Development Corporation OCLC 316174877 Omand Donald 2000 The Fife Book Edinburgh Birlinn Publishing ISBN 1 84158 274 3 Pride Glen L 1998 Kingdom of Fife 2nd ed Edinburgh Rutland Press ISBN 1 873190 49 2 Reid Emma 2004 Old Glenrothes Old buildings farms and villages in the area which became the New Town of Glenrothes 1st ed Cupar Fife Family History Society External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Glenrothes 1 A selection of archive films about Glenrothes Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Glenrothes amp oldid 1152956340, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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