From the All Saints' Church gate turn north along North Castle Street toward the Castle. The houses on your right date from the 18th century. The house on the corner of North Castle Street and East Scores is Castlegate, built in 1879. In the centre of the road, at the junction, are the entwined initials GW in stone. These indicate the spot where George Wishart was put to death by burning on 1st March 1546. Wishart was a Greek scholar, thought to be a danger by the Church since the Greek New Testament was in places at variance with the Latin Vulgate. Studies in Germany and Switzerland had led Wishart to adopt some Lutheran beliefs. Wishart was brought before Cardinal Beaton and tried in the cathedral.
Facing you is the Castle, originally built around 1200, then rebuilt in 1386 after being sacked in 1337. It was sacked again in 1547 and rebuilt between 1549 and 1555. In the Fore Tower facing you is the cinquefoil of Archbishop Hamilton (1555). It was in the Castle on 29 May 1546 that Wishart's death was avenged by supporters who murdered Cardinal Beaton.
Below the Castle you will see the Bathing Pool built in 1904 on a site which had been used for bathing since 1875. Turn right along the East Scores. Just past the Scout Hut, at the corner of East Scores and Gregory Lane, is the site of St Peter's Chapel. Nothing remains today, but stones which had been part of the chapel were found there in 1887.
Continuing past Gregory Lane you come to Saint Gregory's built by Mrs Younger in 1925 to house the fisher people displaced by the building of All Saints' Rectory in North Street. Saint Gregory's was built on the site of a foundry, and ingots and slag from the foundry can still be found on the beach below you on your left. Much of the building beyond Saint Gregory's, up to the point where Gregory Place joins the East Scores, is now sheltered housing built in 1974. It was the site of the East Infants, one of the primary schools in the town when I was growing up. The East Infants' School, originally called the Fisher's School, was built around 1840 for the children of the fishing community. From 1872 it was known as East End School, later as the East Infants, then after it closed as a school in 1957 it was used as a Boys Club throughout the 1960s.
The path bends a little to the right and descends and now the railing on the left is replaced by a wall. At the point where the wall begins, take look over and see the Protection Walls built into the cliff. The large stones seen there are part of protective walls dating from 1507, while the wall at the base was built in 1857 and strengthened a number of times since. The Priory Walls, now seen on the right as we continue along the path, incorporate material from earlier walls, but were rebuilt in their present form by Prior John Hepburn, who became Prior in 1482. His arms are displayed at various points along the walls. Just before reaching the point where there is a gate through the wall, look at the top of the wall on your left. Two arrows will be seen there set into stones. These date from around 1800 (although they are reset into a much more modern wall). The first arrow points at the Bell Rock lighthouse while the second is part of a mark which showed the direction of the rising sun at midsummer and at midwinter.
Just beyond the gateway through the wall one sees the Turret Light tower. This is where Henry Forrest was burnt in October 1533. His crime seems to have been that of possessing a New Testament in English, but it is thought that he confessed being in agreement Patrick Hamilton, and the secrets of the confessional were betrayed to Archbishop Betoun. This point was chosen for the burning so that the people of Angus would see the flames across the water and realise what happened to those who did not conform. Further along the wall we see The Hunted Tower, marked by Prior John Hepburn's arms. When this tower was opened in 1849 it was found to be full of human bones and coffins.
We continue along the path until we reach the Culdee Church - St Mary's on the Rock. The Culdees. began work around 1145, building on the site of an earlier (probably 9th century) church. The Nave, nearest to the cathedral wall, dates from this period. The turret in the priory wall at this point is thought to be built on the foundations of the tower of St Mary's on the Rock. The part of the church nearer to the cliff edge is The Choir, probably originally built around 1145 but then rebuilt in 1240. The base of the high altar is at the east end and evidence remains of a tiled floor. The buildings were destroyed around the time of the Reformation and were only rediscovered in 1860 when a coastal battery was being constructed.
Kirk Hill overlooks The Harbour. The building at the top of the slope is the Signal Station where the Coast Guard used to be stationed looking out across the bay. My grandfather was the coastguard and used this Signal Station. I remember being taken there by him when I was a young boy. He let me look at the moon through the telescopes there - I have been fascinated by astronomy since that time. To the right of the Signal Station is a wall through which there is the 15th century Provost's Doorway which belonged to the Provost's manse.
We reach the Harbour and see in front of us the Pier, 290 yards long. The original pier was built of wood but this was destroyed by a storm in December 1655. In the following year a half-length pier was built using stones from the Castle - there was a lighthouse built at the end. The pier was repeatedly damaged, and in 1849 the lighthouse was removed. Then, in 1898, a long concrete extension of the pier was built. It was restored only a few years ago. The Harbour Walls were built in 1654 with stones from the Castle. It was widened and deepened in 1845-46. Try to imagine the time when the harbour was a hive of activity. Fishing boats would be entering and leaving. I knew Harry Stevenson, the last man to make his living as a St Andrews fisherman. Potatoes and grain were exported from here, with the boats returning with coal, iron, paving, and timber. A packet boat ran between the harbour and Leith from 1830 until 1914. The houses and flats were built in 1965-66 replacing flats which had been condemned in 1935. These in turn were on the site of The Royal George, which contained two taverns, a malthouse and fishermen's stores.
Walking along The Shore away from the harbour, the grass area on the right was the site of the Gasworks built in 1835. When I was young my grandfather used to take me there when he went with an old can to get creosote to preserve his wooden hut. The Gasworks was demolished in 1964.
At the corner of The Shore and Pends Road is the Shore Mill originally built in 1518, reconstructed in the 17th century, then again in 1964 after the demolition of the Gasworks. The exit of the old Mill Lade, the Cloacina Maxima, was into the harbour opposite the Shore Mill. Passing through the Sea Yett or Gate, walk up the Pends Road. We see the flagstones which were covering the mill lade still visible to the right of the road. As we continue to walk up the Pends Road we see a building on the left which touches the wall. This is The Hospice built in 1894. Further up Pends Road, set in the wall on our left, is the Gateway of the New Inn. The building beyond the gate is St Rule's built in 1895-96. The gateway itself was built in 1537 and restored in 1845, then again in 1894. The Royal Arms of Scotland can be seen in the central panel, with the arms of Prior Hepburn in the right panel. Continuing up the road we reach a fork, the main road ahead passing through the Pends Gatehouse which was built around 1350. The central arch of the gatehouse, the supports for which can still be seen at either side, was removed in 1837-38. We choose, however, not to pass through the Pends Gatehouse but rather take the left fork along the Nun's Walk. This walk is named after a ghost.
Walking along the Nun's Walk, we are approaching St Leonard's College quadrangle. Founded in 1512 by Archbishop Alexander and Prior John Hepburn, the College was an annex to the priory until 1545. St Leonard's Chapel, on the north side of the quadrangle, was originally built as the Church of St Leonard in the 12th century, but was rebuilt by John Hepburn for the new College. A square bell tower, sited at the west end of the chapel in what is now St Leonard's Lane, was built in 1545. Various restorations to the Chapel have been carried out, principally in 1910 and 1951. As we stand in the quadrangle with the Chapel on our right, the St Leonard's College building to our left is the Bruce Building, built around 1615 but refronted in 1853. Further along the same side is the Guild Building of 1655. The University sold the buildings of St Leonard's College in 1772 to Professor Robert Watson for £200 and he made it his private home, demolishing the square bell tower of the chapel and he tried (unsuccessfully) to use the chapel itself as a greenhouse. All the buildings, except the chapel (which was retained by the University), were sold to St Leonard's School in 1882.
The walk ends in South Street, after walking through St Leonard's Lane.
Article by: Edmund Robertson