Visit to West Wymess near Kirkcaldy, Fife

Exploring West Wymess, Fife

An Unexpected Surprise

Well, surprises are unexpected generally.  
A friend of ours has just moved to the village of West Wymess in Fife.  Just east of Kirkcaldy this former ancient mining village is right on the shore of the Firth of Forth with fantastic views across to Edinburgh.  
We'd never been to this area before.  After a wander around the village we found our way by accident to Wymess Castle which has a fantastic walled garden open to the public.
More can be found out about the gardens here: www.wemysscastlegardens.com

Open ornate gate in the garden

Open during the summer months the walled garden is on the large Wymess Castle estate.  It takes a little bit of finding but there were a couple of helpful groundsmen who showed us the way.  We discovered after we left that the estate prefer you to book - see link above

Water feature

The walled garden dates from the mid 18th Century.  Designed by Walter Nicol it had vented walls with the idea of providing stone fruit.  There are remains of a Neo classical orangery along with many other features.
The gardens had lain derelict with just a few trees and a number of geese for many years until Charlotte and Michael Wymess started to put things in order in 1993.  The results of their efforts over the years are quite stunning and well worth a visit.

Good tree canopy on the drive just outside the walled garden

The gardens have interesting paths and assorted rooms

The walled garden is just above the coastline and slightly to the east of West Wymess village.

One of the Wymess family?

There's an old piano and they play it hot behind the green door

Don't know what they're doing but they laugh a lot behind the green door (allegedly)

Another interesting path

Hiding in the undergrowth

After a wander round the gardens we headed back to the village and took a stroll down by the harbour and along the Main Street where an impressive tollbooth tower is awaiting some refurbishment.

Lobster creels at the harbour waiting for the season to begin.

The village - a former coal mining village - has been derelict in places over the years.  Slowly however buildings are coming back to life.  It is very peaceful and well worth a visit if you're over that way.  Its about an hour and a half drive from Appletree Cottage.