Lower Largo
Encyclopedia
Fife
Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
situated on Largo Bay
Largo Bay
Largo Bay is on the northern shore of the Forth Estuary, on the coast of Fife in Scotland.Lower Largo is a village right on the bay, with small harbour....
on the north side of the Firth of Forth
Firth of Forth
The Firth of Forth is the estuary or firth of Scotland's River Forth, where it flows into the North Sea, between Fife to the north, and West Lothian, the City of Edinburgh and East Lothian to the south...
. An ancient fishing village, Lower Largo has gained fame as the 1676 birthplace of Alexander Selkirk
Alexander Selkirk
Alexander Selkirk was a Scottish sailor who spent four years as a castaway when he was marooned on an uninhabited island. It is probable that his travels provided the inspiration for Daniel Defoe's novel Robinson Crusoe....
, the inspiration for Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe , born Daniel Foe, was an English trader, writer, journalist, and pamphleteer, who gained fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel, as he helped to popularise the form in Britain and along with others such as Richardson,...
's Robinson Crusoe
Robinson Crusoe
Robinson Crusoe is a novel by Daniel Defoe that was first published in 1719. Epistolary, confessional, and didactic in form, the book is a fictional autobiography of the title character—a castaway who spends 28 years on a remote tropical island near Trinidad, encountering cannibals, captives, and...
.
The arrival of the railway in 1856 brought many tourists to Lower Largo's sandy beach. Lower Largo has retained many historic buildings, and in 1978 it was designated as a conservation area
Conservation area
A conservation areas is a tract of land that has been awarded protected status in order to ensure that natural features, cultural heritage or biota are safeguarded...
.
The railway line through Lower Largo was closed in the 1960s as part of the program of cuts overseen by Dr. Richard Beeching
Richard Beeching
Richard Beeching, Baron Beeching , commonly known as Doctor Beeching, was chairman of British Railways and a physicist and engineer...
, and though it has been disused since then the viaduct
Viaduct
A viaduct is a bridge composed of several small spans. The term viaduct is derived from the Latin via for road and ducere to lead something. However, the Ancient Romans did not use that term per se; it is a modern derivation from an analogy with aqueduct. Like the Roman aqueducts, many early...
that dominates the village remains an important local landmark.
Lower Largo is contiguous with Lundin Links
Lundin Links
Lundin Links is a small village in Fife, Scotland. The village is best known for its two golf courses. The 18 hole course, Lundin Golf Club, was used as a pre-qualifying course when The Open Championship is held at St. Andrews. Lundin Links Ladies 9 hole course is the oldest woman's golf course in...
.