Historic Old Kirk opens doors

Kirkcaldy Old Kirk is throwing open its doors on Fridays and Saturdays in July and August from 10am.

The historic church is playing host to a special exhibition on the Lang Toun’s Suffragists and Suffragettes entitled Deeds, Not Words, which celebrates the winning of the vote for some women in 1918.

Kirkcaldy played its part through meetings of the Kirkcaldy Burghs Women’s Suffrage Society from 1912 with the ladies of the Manse supported in their efforts by the minister of the day, Dr John Campbell.

Dr Campbell, who wrote the first history of Kirkcaldy Parish Church, had eight daughters and one son, and he sent them all to St Andrews University.

Militant suffragettes came to Kirkcaldy to raise support, including Lady Constance Lytton in September 1909, her health ruined by force-feeding in Walton Jail.

Speakers had to endure not only jeering and heckling but, according to reports of the day, “the rowdiness of some boys who it is said were paid to throw cabbages and rotten eggs at the speakers”.

Admission is free from 10am to 3pm in July and August, with visitors invited to read about the history of the Old Kirk and the site where the Gospel first came to Kirkcaldy. You can also climb the 15th Century tower with a guide to view the panorama over the river and the town; look for ancestors and hear stories of those buried in the graveyard.