Landmarks
One of North Queensferry's biggest attractions today, other than the extensive views it offers of the Forth Bridge and Forth Road Bridge, is Deep Sea World, one of the largest and most popular public aquariums in the United Kingdom which was opened in 1993. It boasts impressive displays of local and exotic sealife.
The oldest inhabited house in the village, at one time the Black Cat Inn, is in Main Street opposite the late Georgian Albert Hotel. In the early 20th century a tunnel was found beneath the floorboards leading towards the sea. The oldest building in the village is the nearby early 14th century Chapel of St James ('the Greater' - patron saint of pilgrims) founded by Robert the Bruce around 1320-23, abandoned after the Reformation and believed to have been destroyed by Parliamentarian troops in 1651. Very little remains standing. The graveyard walls carry an inscription: THIS IS DONE BY THE SAILERS IN NORTH FERRIE 1752.
Houses in Main Street and Post Office Lane are dated 1693 and 1776; Brae House and White House, also in Main Street, are dated 1771 and 1778 and have a sundial at first floor level. On Pierhead stands the small hexagonal Light Tower built in 1817 and now restored, marking the old ferry pier. Nearby, the octagonal, castellated Signal House (or Tower House) is the old ferry office. In the 19th century, people awaiting a ferry sheltered on the ground floor of this building and the Superintendent of the Queensferry Passage had his office on the floor above.
The Waterloo Memorial in Main Street is a bell-shaped stone gable carved with an anchored ship and dated 1816. It stands in front of the Waterloo Well with its Victorian iron pump and was a watering stop for horses. There are other wells at the side of Main Street by West Sands and on The Brae. Also on The Brae are pantiled cottages with forestairs, and the Old Schoolhouse, built in 1827. At the station, a large mosaic mural (1990) by local people including children from the nearby primary school marks the centenary of the opening of the rail bridge.
Along a drive off the road out of the village towards Rosyth is a neo-Georgian house called St Margaret's Hope. The name comes from the nearby bay, now partially reclaimed, where St. Margaret (with her brother Edgar the Ætheling and other members of her family) supposedly landed in 1068 while fleeing the English court. The house was built during the First World War to house the admiral commanding the Royal Navy in Scotland. On the driveway is an arch thought to date from the 19th century but containing 16th century panels decorated with the arms of the Napiers of Wrightshouse.
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Famous quotes containing the word landmarks:
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—Larry McMurtry (b. 1936)
“Of all the bewildering things about a new country, the absence of human landmarks is one of the most depressing and disheartening.”
—Willa Cather (1873–1947)