Upper
Largo
"Largo
is bounded by the parishes of Kilconquhar, Newburn, Ceres and
Scoonie. It contains the villages of Upper Largo (or Kirkton),
Lower Largo, Lundin Mill and New Gilston. It is about 4.5 miles
north - south and 3 miles in breadth. To the west of Largo Law,
a deeply wooded ravine, Keil's Den, intersects the parish from
north - south. It is laid out with footpaths and is very picturesque,
so is a favourite resort for all those who visit in the summer
for sea bathing. The village of Lower Largo stands on the bay.
Most of the houses have a decaying look, being mostly built from
red sandstone taken from the sea. In old times a large trade was
carried on here with Holland, and more recently Norway, but that
is long at an end. Upper Largo is a well-built village with a
number of good houses and shops. There is an institution in the
village called Wood's Hospital, for the maintenance of indigent
persons of the name of Wood. Both Upper and Lower Largo are favourite
resorts for sea bathing. The village of Lundin Mill is chiefly
inhabited by weavers. The village of New Gilston is chiefly inhabited
by miners. A noted native of the parish was Alexander Selkirk,
the prototype of Robinson Crusoe. Besides the parish church, there
is a Free Church at Kirkton, and a UP Church and a Baptist Church
at Lower Largo." edited from Westwood's Directory for the
counties of Fife & Kinross published 1862.
An
ancient village in the East Neuk of Fife to the north of Lower
Largo. Also known as Kirkton of Largo, the village is centred
on its 12th-century parish church of Largo which was given to
the Cistercian nunnery at North Berwick by Earl Duncan of Fife
(1154-1204). A Pictish symbol stone and the headstone of the family
of Alexander Selkirk (Defoe's Robinson Crusoe) are to be found
in the churchyard and inside the church is a model of the Yellow
Caravel, the ship of the Scottish admiral Sir Andrew Wood who
defeated the English fleet in 1498. North of the church is the
Jacobean-style Wood's Hospital or Wood's Houses, founded in 1665
and rebuilt in 1830.
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