Friary Gardens
Park type: Local Park
Facilities
- Play park
About Friary Gardens
A very attractive, rectangular-shaped greenspace in central Inverkeithing, located in front of the Hospitum. This tiered, walled garden contains shrub and flowerbeds on the highest tier, a small play area in the middle section, a grassed area in the southern and western sections, and a community garden in the southwest corner. It is a well-maintained area that provides excellent views to the southeast towards Edinburgh.
Park History
Friary Gardens occupies part of the former grounds of the Grey Friars Hospitium, a 14th‑century friary that provided accommodation for pilgrims travelling to St Andrews. The friary served as an important religious and social centre in medieval Inverkeithing, offering lodging, storage, and a chapel for those journeying across the Forth. Following the Scottish Reformation in the 16th century, much of the friary complex was dismantled, but the hospitium building survived and remains one of Scotland’s finest examples of a medieval friary structure. Today, the gardens contain visible traces of this history, including foundations of former ranges, cellars, and a historic well.
The surrounding townscape reflects Inverkeithing’s medieval origins as one of Fife’s earliest royal burghs. A distinctive feature of this period was the rigg system. Long, narrow plots of land extending behind properties on the High Street. These riggs were originally enclosed for defence and later used for cultivation and livestock. Although their function evolved over time, the pattern remained a defining characteristic of the town’s layout well into the 19th century, and remnants of these boundaries can still be traced today.
Other activities available
- Inverkeithing Civic Centre (Community Use) | Fife Council
- Inverkeithing Library and Heritage Centre - OnFife
- Community Garden
- Limekilns to Burntisland - Fife Coast & Countryside Trust
- What's on | Fife Council
