Inchcolm

Inchcolm Abbey is a medieval abbey located on the island of Inchcolm in the Firth of Forth in Scotland. The Abbey, which is located at the centre of the island, was founded in the 12th century during the episcopate of Gregoir, Bishop of Dunkeld. Later tradition placed it even earlier, in the reign of King Alexander I of Scotland (1107–24), who had taken shelter on Incholm when his ship was forced ashore during a storm in 1123. It is said he resided there for three days with the Hermit of Incholm.The Abbey was first used as a priory by Augustinian canons regular, becoming a full abbey in 1235. The island was attacked by the English from 1296 onwards, and the Abbey was abandoned after the Scottish Reformation in 1560. It has since been used for defensive purposes, as it is situated in a strategically important position in the middle of the Firth of Forth. A Latin inscription carved above the Abbey's entrance reads: Stet domus haec donec fluctus formica marinos ebibat, et totum testudo perambulet orbem Translated, it has been rendered thus: "Still may these turrets lift their heads on high, Nor e’er as crumbling ruins strew the ground, Until an ant shall drink the ocean dry, And a slow tortoise travel the world round." Inchcolm Abbey has the most complete surviving remains of any Scottish monastic house. The cloisters, chapter house, warming house, and refectory are all complete, and most of the remaining claustral buildings survive in a largely complete state. The least well-preserved part of the complex is the monastic church. The ruins are cared for by Historic Environment Scotland, which also maintains a visitor centre near the landing pier (entrance charge; ferry from South Queensferry). In July 1581 stones from the abbey were taken to Edinburgh to repair the Tolbooth.Among the Abbots of Inchcolm was the 15th-century chronicler Walter Bower.

Aberdour ( ; Scots: , Scottish Gaelic: Obar Dobhair) is a scenic and historic village on the south coast of Fife, Scotland. It is on the north shore of the Firth of Forth, looking south to the island of Inchcolm and its Abbey, and to Leith and Edinburgh beyond. According to the 2011 census, the village has a population of 1,633.The village's winding High Street lies a little inland from the coast. Narrow lanes run off it, providing access to the more hidden parts of the village and the shoreline itself. The village nestles between the bigger coastal towns of Burntisland to the east and Dalgety Bay to the west. The parish of Aberdour takes its name from this village, and had a population of 1,972 at the 2011 Census.

Aberdour railway station is a railway station in the village of Aberdour, Fife, Scotland. The station is managed by ScotRail and is on the Fife Circle Line.

Inchmickery is a small island in the Firth of Forth in Scotland. It is about two miles (3.2 km) north of Edinburgh. Its name comes from the Scottish Gaelic, Innis nam Biocaire, meaning Isle of the Vicars, implying that there may have been an old ecclesiastical or Culdee settlement here, as in nearby Inchcolm. It features occasionally in a riddle, "How many inches is the Forth?", playing on a pun on 'Inch' (Innis), the Gaelic word for island, and inch, the imperial measurement. Inchmickery is tiny, only 100 metres by 200 metres. During both World War I and World War II the island was used as a gun emplacement. The concrete buildings make the island look (from a distance) like a battleship. Although the island is now uninhabited much of this concrete superstructure remains largely intact. The conclusion of Iain Banks's 1993 novel Complicity was set here and the film adaptation used it as a location. The island is now an RSPB reserve, and is home to breeding pairs of common eider, Sandwich terns and various gulls. It used to be a nesting site for the very rare roseate tern, but the roseate terns have now moved elsewhere in the Firth of Forth. There are exposed rocks off Inchmickery, known as the Cow & Calves. Inchmickery was formerly known for its oyster-beds, and used to be covered in moss and lichen.

St. Bridget's Kirk is a ruined church on the outskirts of Dalgety Bay, Fife, Scotland. It is a shell of a medieval church, dating back at least as far as 1178, and was altered in the 17th century for Protestant worship. It has been a ruin since the 19th century.

Cramond Island (Scottish Gaelic: Eilean Chair Amain) is one of several islands in the Firth of Forth in eastern Scotland, near Edinburgh. It lies off the foreshore at Cramond. It is 1⁄3 mile (0.54 km) long and covers 19.03 acres (7.70 ha). The island is part of the Dalmeny Estate, owned by the Rosebery Estates Partnership, and is let to Cramond Boat Club.

Couston Castle is an L-plan tower house dating from the late sixteenth or early seventeenth centuries, just north east of Dalgety Bay, at the edge of Otterston Loch in Fife, Scotland. It is built on the site of an earlier building.

Donibristle (Scots: also Dunibirsle) was a house and estate in Fife, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth. Only the wings of the house remain, within the modern settlement of Dalgety Bay. They are now protected as a category A listed building. Donibristle was the scene of the killing of James Stewart, 2nd Earl of Moray, in 1592, which is remembered in the ballad "The Bonnie Earl O' Moray".

Cramond Village (; Scottish Gaelic: Cair Amain) is a village and suburb in the north-west of Edinburgh, Scotland, at the mouth of the River Almond where it enters the Firth of Forth. The Cramond area has evidence of Mesolithic, Bronze Age and Roman activity. In modern times, it was the birthplace of the Scottish economist John Law (1671–1729). Cramond was incorporated into the City of Edinburgh by the Edinburgh Boundaries Extension and Tramways Act 1920 (10 & 11 Geo. 5. c. lxxxvii).

Barnbougle Castle is a historic tower house on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth, between Cramond and Queensferry, and within the parish of Dalmeny. It lies within the Earl of Rosebery's estate, just north-west of Dalmeny House. Although its history goes back to the 13th century, the present castle is the result of rebuilding in 1881 by the 5th Earl of Rosebery, who served as Prime Minister from 1894 to 1895.

Royal Naval Air Station Donibristle or more simply RNAS Donibristle was a former Fleet Air Arm base located 2.7 miles (4.3 km) east of Rosyth, Fife, and 8.7 miles (14.0 km) northwest of Edinburgh. It was also known as HMS Merlin. It grew from an emergency landing ground first established in 1917 on the Earl of Moray's Donibristle Estate by 77 Sqn of the Royal Flying Corps and was transferred to Royal Naval Air Service control in September 1917 becoming a RNAS Aircraft Repair Depot. On 1 April 1918 the Royal Naval Air Service merged with the Royal Flying Corps to create the Royal Air Force and Donibristle became a RAF Station between 1918-1939 operated by the Fleet Air Arm as part of RAF Coastal Area and later Coastal Command. During the interbellum Donibristle was an important centre of training for torpedo bomber crews with a number of new squadrons forming at the airfield. On 24 May 1939, control of the Fleet Air Arm was returned to the Royal Navy and the airfield was renamed Royal Naval Air Station Donibristle (HMS Merlin). In addition to being an important shore base for training and disembarked naval aircraft units, a substantial Royal Naval Aircraft Repair Yard was developed in the North West corner of the airfield which employed a large civilian workforce alongside naval personnel. Over 7,000 aircraft were repaired and maintained at Donibristle during the Second World War. Post war, Fleet Air Arm activity at Donibristle slowed considerably and HMS Merlin was eventually run down and paid off by the Royal Navy in November 1953. The Royal Naval Aircraft Yard continued to operate under the civilian contracted management of Airwork Ltd until April 1959 at which point the airfield site was completely closed. The land was sold to developers who created the Hillend and Donibristle Industrial Estates and the new town of Dalgety Bay. The first residents moved in to Dalgety Bay on 28 October 1965.

Dalmeny House (pronounced dal-MENI) is a Gothic revival mansion located in an estate close to Dalmeny on the Firth of Forth, in the north-west of Edinburgh, Scotland. It was designed by William Wilkins, and completed in 1817. Dalmeny House is the home of the Earl and Countess of Rosebery. The house was the first in Scotland to be built in the Tudor Revival style. It provided more comfortable accommodation than the former ancestral residence, Barnbougle Castle, which still stands close by. Dalmeny today remains a private house, although it is open to the public during the summer months. The house is protected as a category A listed building, while the grounds are included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland.