Fife | 1596
St Monance or Monans is a historic fishing village in the East Neuk of Fife. Once called Inverie, it has long been named after the legendary Saint Monan who some believe was killed by Viking raiders. The pious King David I granted Inverie to the Isle of May Priory in the twelfth century.
Legend has it that King David II ordered the construction of the present kirk to give thanks from either being healed from a wound or saved from a storm at St Monance.
It appears that the prominent Sandilands family acquired the lands of Inverie in the fifteenth century. Their principal seat was at Newark Castle which today is a ruin overlooking the village.
1855 OS map Fife, Sheet 26. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland (CC-BY NLS)
Sir James Sandilands of St Monance was created Lord Abercrombie by King Charles I, but in 1649 was forced to part with the estate. At this time the bloody Wars of the Three Kingdoms were being fought across the British Isles. The famous Scottish General, David Leslie, eventually came to support King Charles II, and in 1650 was granted lands incorporated into the Barony of St Monance.
Newark Castle © 2012 John Allan (CC BY-SA 2.0)
but after the Restoration of the Monarchy the king rewarded him by creating him Lord Newark.
St Monance passed to Jean Leslie, eldest child of David Leslie, 2nd Lord Newark, who married Sir Alexander Anstruther of Anstruther. Sir Alexander was forced through debt to assign the estate to his nephew Sir John Anstruther of Elie.
and was a supporter of the administration of Lord North. Sir John Anstruther, 4th Baronet served as an MP from 1783 to 1811. He was appointed Solicitor General to the Prince of Wales in 1793, served as Chief Justice of Bengal from 1798 until 1806 and was appointed as a Privy Councillor in 1806.
St Monans Church © 2019 Richard Sutcliffe (CC BY-SA 2.0)
and so, in the 1850s, they passed to William Baird. Baird was an industrialist, and working with his brothers, became rich through coal, eventually coming to be a millionaire and MP. His son, William Baird of Elie who succeeded him in his estates, was an officer in the British Army and a JP. St Monance remained with the Baird family into the twentieth century. The present holder is Dr Robert Pirooz JD QC.
St Monans Harbour © 1991 Peter Jordan (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Fife | 1596
St Monance or Monans is a historic fishing village in the East Neuk of Fife. Once called Inverie, it has long been named after the legendary Saint Monan who some believe was killed by Viking raiders. The pious King David I granted Inverie to the Isle of May Priory in the twelfth century.
Legend has it that King David II ordered the construction of the present kirk to give thanks from either being healed from a wound or saved from a storm at St Monance.
It appears that the prominent Sandilands family acquired the lands of Inverie in the fifteenth century. Their principal seat was at Newark Castle which today is a ruin overlooking the village.
1855 OS map Fife, Sheet 26. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland (CC-BY NLS)
Sir James Sandilands of St Monance was created Lord Abercrombie by King Charles I, but in 1649 was forced to part with the estate. At this time the bloody Wars of the Three Kingdoms were being fought across the British Isles. The famous Scottish General, David Leslie, eventually came to support King Charles II, and in 1650 was granted lands incorporated into the Barony of St Monance.
Newark Castle © 2012 John Allan (CC BY-SA 2.0)
but after the Restoration of the Monarchy the king rewarded him by creating him Lord Newark.
St Monance passed to Jean Leslie, eldest child of David Leslie, 2nd Lord Newark, who married Sir Alexander Anstruther of Anstruther. Sir Alexander was forced through debt to assign the estate to his nephew Sir John Anstruther of Elie.
and was a supporter of the administration of Lord North. Sir John Anstruther, 4th Baronet served as an MP from 1783 to 1811. He was appointed Solicitor General to the Prince of Wales in 1793, served as Chief Justice of Bengal from 1798 until 1806 and was appointed as a Privy Councillor in 1806.
St Monans Church © 2019 Richard Sutcliffe (CC BY-SA 2.0)
and so, in the 1850s, they passed to William Baird. Baird was an industrialist, and working with his brothers, became rich through coal, eventually coming to be a millionaire and MP. His son, William Baird of Elie who succeeded him in his estates, was an officer in the British Army and a JP. St Monance remained with the Baird family into the twentieth century. The present holder is Dr Robert Pirooz JD QC.
St Monans Harbour © 1991 Peter Jordan (CC BY-SA 2.0)