Saints in Scottish Place-Names
Funded by a Leverhulme Trust Project Grant
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
Names
2 head-names linked to this place ?Specus Sancti Servani
Head name
Specus Sancti Servani
Place
St Serf's Cave, Dysart KDT
Certainty that this name applies to this place
Certain
The status of this name is
Obsolete
Is this a current OS form? ?
No
Is this the original referent of the place?
Yes
Is the association of this name to this object hypothetical?
No
Specum Sancti Seruani 1517, Fife Ct. Bk.
Historic formSpecum Sancti Seruani Head nameSpecus Sancti Servani PlaceSt Serf's Cave, Dysart KDT Certainty that this name applies to this placeCertain SourceFife Ct. Bk., 80 |
Source code
Fife Ct. Bk.
Source title
The Sheriff Court Book of Fife
Editors
W.C. Dickinson
Series
Scottish History Society
Year
1928
Saints in this place-name
Serf (ns) (certain)
Serf of Culross (certain)
St Serf's Cave
Head name
St Serf's Cave
Place
St Serf's Cave, Dysart KDT
Certainty that this name applies to this place
Certain
The status of this name is
Current
Is this a current OS form? ?
No
Is this the original referent of the place?
Yes
Is the association of this name to this object hypothetical?
No
Saints in this place-name
Serf of Culross (certain)