Abbot House, Dunfermline

Abbot House is a heritage centre located on the Maygate in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. It lies in the shadow of Dunfermline's great abbey church. Located in a building with a 16th-century core, Abbot House offers a view of Scotland's history from early beginnings through the 19th century, provided to visitors by guided tour. The heritage centre closed in August 2015 after attempts, by Abbot House Heritage Centre Trust, to find alternative funding for the centre failed. In March 2016 it was announced that the Carnegie Dunfermline Trust had taken over ownership of Abbot House, and that they intend to re-open the building to the public. In November 2016 it was announced that Fire Station Creative had been earmarked as the preferred operator, although plans had yet to be finalised and no indication of a possible re-opening date was given. In May 2017 it was reported that a re-opened Abbot House would provide a cafe, restaurant, meeting rooms and suites, and that it was the intention to re-open the cafe "as soon as possible". HistoryAs the oldest surviving building within Dunfermline town, and a survivor of the Great Fire of Dunfermline in 1624, the building is indicative of the changing styles of Scottish architecture from the 16th to the 20th centuries. The earliest phase of the house was a two-story rectangular block of at least two storeys, built into the existing precinct wall. This house incorporated a small Z-plan tower house. The tour of the house reveals many early features of the changing form of the house, including crow-stepped gabling from an early exterior wall within the 'Industrial Room', and a number of excavated fireplaces and ranges now within the cafe area.

Abbot House is a heritage centre located on the Maygate in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. It lies in the shadow of Dunfermline's great abbey church. Located in a building with a 16th-century core, Abbot House offers a view of Scotland's history from early beginnings through the 19th century, provided to visitors by guided tour. The heritage centre closed in August 2015 after attempts, by Abbot House Heritage Centre Trust, to find alternative funding for the centre failed. In March 2016 it was announced that the Carnegie Dunfermline Trust had taken over ownership of Abbot House, and that they intend to re-open the building to the public. In November 2016 it was announced that Fire Station Creative had been earmarked as the preferred operator, although plans had yet to be finalised and no indication of a possible re-opening date was given. In May 2017 it was reported that a re-opened Abbot House would provide a cafe, restaurant, meeting rooms and suites, and that it was the intention to re-open the cafe "as soon as possible". HistoryAs the oldest surviving building within Dunfermline town, and a survivor of the Great Fire of Dunfermline in 1624, the building is indicative of the changing styles of Scottish architecture from the 16th to the 20th centuries. The earliest phase of the house was a two-story rectangular block of at least two storeys, built into the existing precinct wall. This house incorporated a small Z-plan tower house. The tour of the house reveals many early features of the changing form of the house, including crow-stepped gabling from an early exterior wall within the 'Industrial Room', and a number of excavated fireplaces and ranges now within the cafe area.