Family home that struck gold
IN some places, you don’t have to look far for historical heritage – and some people are lucky enough to trip over it in their own garden. Retired pharmacist John Barnes certainly knew there was something familiar about the ‘Wanted’ poster handed round the doors by local amateur historians.
The time detectives were trying to locate a mystical stone that was carved back in the day to mark the award of a Golden Rose to Dunfermline by the then Pope.
It had probably been transplanted into different properties over the years as buildings crumbled and civic fathers tried to preserve their history.
Mr Barnes says: ‘I thought I recognised the image that came through the door as the keystone to a gate in our garden.
‘I contacted local history buffs and a tiny lady came round to see what I had.
‘When she saw it, she became really excited. I’m over 6ft tall, but she kept jumping up trying to kiss me.’
Clearly, they like their history in this part of Fife.
The Scottish public, too, voted to preserve the memory of long-dead Queen Margaret when they picked Queensferry Crossing as the name for the new road bridge across the Firth of Forth, a project now nearing completion.
Margaret was a deeply pious woman and arranged for pilgrims to visit Dunfermline Abbey by establishing a ferry crossing from Edinburgh (the original Queen’s Ferry).
Ironically, the new bridge sits within plain sight of Mr Barnes’ magnificent sandstone home in Park Avenue, one of Dunfermline’s most coveted addresses.
The best view is easily from the second-floor dormer window.
Mr Barnes and partner Anne McBride are keen cruisers and the view is so clear that they can wait until they see their ship dock at the port of Rosyth before ordering their taxi to the quayside.
Estate agent Michael Maloco is in no doubt about the quality of the property. He says: ‘In addition to the five bedrooms the house, which oozes elegance thanks to its high ceilings and decorative cornices, has a certain bearing which makes it one of the finest homes to come to the market in Dunfermline and surrounding areas in recent years.’ As well as a large dining kitchen and four public rooms, there is a self-contained granny flat with two further rooms and a bathroom. Arranged over three floors with those beautiful views south to the new Forth crossing and beyond to the Pentland Hills, this is being marketed as a property which could not only comfortably accommodate three generations of a family but could also play host to a home office suite.
Its location, too, makes this house even more attractive.
One of Dunfermline’s two principal parks lies only 100 yards to the east, while the station, with access to Edinburgh, is a three-minute walk away and two minutes more takes you to a branch of Marks & Spencer.
A bit of research, with the help of the Dunfermline Historical Society, reveals the most likely origins of the fancy stone in the garden.
According to Ebenezer Henderson, who wrote The Annals of Dunfermline in 1879, the stone at that time adorned ‘a plain house’ in the town’s High Street.
It had probably already enjoyed several moves, having survived the great fire of Dunfermline of 1624.
Henderson wrote: ‘The Golden Rose appears to have had a Roman origin.
‘The ceremony of “Blessing the Golden Rose” since the time of Pope Urban V in 1366, has been celebrated annually at Rome on March 13.
‘The rose thus blessed by the Pope is then presented to some highly favoured person.’
But quite how this representation ended up in Mr Barnes’ garden remains stuck in the mists of time.
M Offers over £700,000 to Aileen McFarlan of Maloco Associates. Tel 01383 629720 or email aileen@ maloco.co.uk