Of the old monastery of Pittenweem, which was connected with that on the Isle of May in the Frith of Forth, only some altered fragments survive. The priory seems to have derived its name from its being built close to a cave or “weem” on the shore of the Frith of Forth, with which it had communication by a vaulted chamber in the garden and a long straight staircase. The monastic buildings surrounded a courtyard. On the south side was the prior’s mansion (now restored and occupied by the Episcopal clergyman of the place). On the west side was the refectory, now converted into the Town Hall, and to the north of it the dormitories.
Some of the walls of these structures still exist, with two square projecting windows overlooking the courtyard. On the east side is the gatehouse, a battlemented structure with a round archway passing through it, now greatly decayed and covered with ivy. Beyond the courtyard to the north lay some outer grounds and a chapel.[252]
Fig. 1583.—Pittenweem Priory. Tower, from North-East.
After the Reformation the buildings passed into the hands of laymen, and the monastery became the “manor place of Pittenweem.” In 1588 a portion of the grounds was granted to the burgh, in order that a suitable church might be erected, which was carried out soon thereafter (Fig. [1582]). Possibly some portions of the church of the priory are included in this building, but it has in recent years been restored and extended.
Fig. 1582.—Pittenweem Priory. Plan.
The quaint tower (Fig. [1583]), with its mixture of Gothic and classic features, is the only part which has not been interfered with. The tower, which stands at the north-west angle of the church, is about 18 feet square externally. It rises with a plain square outline for a considerable way without buttresses or anything to distinguish it from a castle keep. There are even shot-holes under the windows, as in the domestic structures of the time. The stair turret in the north-east angle has the outline and corbelled gablet similar to the cape-house of the stair turrets of the Scotch castles of the period. The spire, with its remarkable lucarnes, helps to give the erection a little more of an ecclesiastical character, but the balustrade again recalls the attention to the domestic and Renaissance style of the design.[253]