Kirkcaldy is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about 11.6mi north of Edinburgh and 27.6mi south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a population of 49,460, which was recorded in 2011, making it Fife's second-largest settlement and the 11th most populous settlement in Scotland.Kirkcaldy has long been nicknamed the Lang Toun in reference to the early town's 0.9mi main street, as indicated on maps of the 16th and 17th centuries. The street later reached a length of nearly, connecting the burgh to the neighbouring settlements of Linktown, Pathhead, Sinclairtown and Gallatown, which became part of the town in 1876. The formerly separate burgh of Dysart was merged into Kirkcaldy in 1930.The area around Kirkcaldy has been inhabited since the Bronze Age. The first document to refer to the town was in 1075, when Malcolm III granted the settlement to the church of Dunfermline. David I later gave the burgh to Dunfermline Abbey, which had succeeded the church: a status which was officially recognised by Robert I in 1327. The town only gained its independence from Abbey rule when it was created a royal burgh by Charles I in 1644.From the early 16th century, the establishment of a harbour at the East Burn confirmed the town's early role as an important trading port. The town also began to develop around the salt, coal mining and nail making industries. The production of linen which followed in 1672 was later instrumental in the introduction of floorcloth in 1847 by linen manufacturer, Michael Nairn. In 1877 this in turn contributed to linoleum, which became the town's most successful industry: Kirkcaldy was a world producer until well into the mid-1960s. The town expanded considerably in the 1950s and 1960s, though the decline of the linoleum industry and other manufacturing restricted its growth thereafter.
Tags: City