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A walk round Pittencrieff Park and its glen in Dunfermline
A walk · Dunfermline

Dunfermline – Carnegie's Glen Below the Abbey

Glen Bridge car parkStartThe Glen PavilionWhere you turn

Andrew Carnegie was kept out of the Pittencrieff estate as a boy, so when he'd made his fortune he bought it and gave it to his home town.

Dunfermline calls it the Glen: 80 acres of lawns, gardens and a deep wooded ravine right beside the Abbey, with peacocks wandering about. It's an easy hour or two on foot, with coffee and cake at Abbot House to finish.

Time
An hour or two. There's no set route: the park is 80 acres, with surfaced paths round the lawns and gardens and steeper paths in the glen.
The path
Surfaced paths round the lawns and gardens. The paths down into the glen are steep in places and have steps.
Where to start
Glen Bridge car park, on the north side of the park: one of Fife Council's paid car parks, a few minutes' walk from the park's gates.
When to go
All year in daylight. Prost Coffee at Abbot House is shut on Mondays.
Dogs
Under close control, as in any town park.
Children
A play park, peacocks on the lawns and plenty of room to run.
Toilets
Public toilets in the park, near the Glen Pavilion.
Before you set out
Pittencrieff House is closed. The paths in the glen are steep in places, with steps.

The walk

Park in the Glen Bridge car park on the north side of the park. It's one of Fife Council's paid car parks, and the park's gates are a few minutes away on foot. Pittencrieff Park is 80 acres of lawns, gardens and woodland wrapped round a deep ravine, which is why the town calls it the Glen. Andrew Carnegie was shut out of the private estate as a boy. Once he had made his fortune he bought the house and its grounds and gave them to Dunfermline in 1903, and he called it the most soul-satisfying gift he ever made.

There's no set way round, and an hour or two is enough to see all of it. The flower beds and lawns lie below the tower of Dunfermline Abbey, where Robert the Bruce is buried. Paths drop from them into the glen, where the burn runs over a small waterfall under the trees. The Glen Pavilion, on the west side, is an Art Deco building, and the park is known for the peacocks that wander its grass. There's a play park for children.

Pittencrieff House, the 17th-century laird's house in the middle of the park, has been closed for several years. The main paths are surfaced, but the ones down in the glen are steep in places and have steps. There are public toilets near the pavilion.

If it rains

The trees in the glen keep off a shower, and Abbot House is a few minutes away when it turns heavy. The steps and steep paths in the glen are slippery when wet.

Afterwards

  1. About 5 min on foot

    Abbot House

    Abbot House

    Coffee and cake

    Abbot House is the pink-harled house with crow-stepped gables beside the Abbey churchyard, a few minutes' walk from the park. Prost Coffee has its ground floor and the walled garden behind. It serves coffee from Gatehouse Coffee Roasters with home-made cakes, toasties and soup. It's open from 9am to 4pm from Tuesday to Saturday and from 10am to 4pm on Sunday, and it's shut on Mondays. Tables can't be booked. Dogs are welcome as long as they stay on the floor. Over Christmas and New Year, check before going.

    More about Abbot House

Before you go

  1. Book accommodation nearby

    If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.

    West End Muse13 miles awayWest End MuseSleeps 4Old Town Chambers13 miles awayOld Town ChambersA place to stayMoment George IV Bridge14 miles awayMoment George IV BridgeSleeps 2The Scott Hotel15 miles awayThe Scott HotelA hotel

Where to eat

Abbot House, a restaurant in Dunfermline.

Find out more

For further reading, before you go.

Photograph by Chrissie Maitland via Google