St Serf's Cave, Dysart KDT

Grid reference

NT 303 930 (accurate position)

Six-figure easting & northing

330300 693000

Latitude

56.12470208996373

Longitude

-3.1213121604909535

Altitude (metres)

10

County

Fife

Nearby places

St Dennis Chapel, doubtful Dysart KDT (0.06 miles)

Dysart, former parish, Kirkcaldy & Dysart (0.06 miles)

St Serf's Church, Dysart KDT (0.09 miles)

St Serf's Hill, Dysart KDT (0.12 miles)

St Mary's Well, Kirkcaldy KDT (1.28 miles)

Object Classification

Antiquity

Ecclesiastical

Is linear feature?

No

Notes

According to the Life of St Serf (circa 1200), the saint spent some time in a cave at Dysart and resisted the devil there. This cave appears to have been the one envisioned by the medieval devotees of Serf. The cave was adorned by an ashlar doorway in the middle ages (Scottish Church Heritage Research website). The cave had a chaplain in 1517, when the tenant of Skeddoway (Scathoquhy) KDT had to pay 6s. 8d. a year for his maintenance (Fife Ct Bk. 80; Taylor with Márkus i, 469). The name of the town (and parish) of Dysart derives from Gaelic dìseart 'desert, hermitage, retreat', presumably from the presence of this cave and its reputation as the 'desert' of St Serf.

Relationships with other parishes

Within Dysart, former parish, Kirkcaldy & Dysart (formerly)

Within Kirkcaldy & Dysart

Relationships with other places

Adjacent St Dennis Chapel, doubtful Dysart KDT

Adjacent St Serf's Church, Dysart KDT