St Andrews Fife
St Andrews was and is a famous seat of learning and the home of golf. As the former metropolitan see of Scotland, the city was in the mainstream of Scottish history and its rich heritage includes a 12th Century cathedral, 13th Century castle and 15th Century university. Today the town has a charm all its own and is a busy holiday resort in summer, reverting to the role of a university town in term time with an active cultural life. St Andrews was an early ecclesiastical settlement associated with relics of St Andrew, it grew in importance with the founding of the St Regulus Church, a priory in the 12th Century and finally a grandiose cathedral, all of which eclipsed the Celtic settlement of St Mary on the Rock. The monastic establishment renowned as a seat of learning was the precursor of the university. With a growing university attracting scholars and students of a high calibre. 15th Century St Andrews was an active and prosperous burgh well meriting the attribution of a national role as ecclesiastical capital of Scotland in 1472. Prosperity and the population declined in the 17th Century, owing in part to the loss of the archbishopric (1689 Revolution), the changing trading patterns (now with the American colonies), as well as the political changes after the 1707 Act of Union.
Stay a short 15 minute drive away at Castaway Cottages in lower Largo
