Culross

Culross prospered around 1600 on salt panning and coal under George Bruce, whose mine ran a shaft out beneath the Forth to an artificial island in the estuary, the first known undersea coal working anywhere, drained by a horse-driven chain of buckets; it flooded in a storm in 1625 and the island still shows at low tide. Trade with the Low Countries paid for the houses, which have red pantiles, crow-stepped gables and harled walls in ochre. When the trade collapsed the burgh stopped developing, and the National Trust for Scotland began buying and restoring from 1932, so what stands is a largely intact small burgh of the seventeenth century. Culross Palace, Bruce's own house, has painted ceilings and a model garden of period plants. The cobbled streets have appeared in Outlander.

What to look for

• Culross Palace - Bruce's ochre house with original painted ceilings.
• The undersea mine - remains of the first known workings under the sea.
• The intact burgh - streets of seventeenth-century houses restored from 1932.
• The model garden - period plants laid out behind the palace.

When to go

April to October for the palace and abbey, which close for winter; the streets are free and open all year. Weekdays are quiet. Outlander filming has raised visitor numbers on summer weekends.

What to expect

Most houses are private and only the palace and a few properties are open. The cobbles, called causeys, are uneven and hard on ankles and wheels. There is little to eat in the village and parking is limited.

Nearby

Dunfermline Abbey lies east; the Forth bridges are a short drive.

Key facts