History

1540 – James V improves the harbour and names it “Our Lady Port”

1633 – The Blessing of Burntisland, a barge belonging to Charles I sinks off the harbour, taking his treasure with it.

1715 – Jacobites raid the harbour and hold the town for two months.

1850 – Four years after a new pier is built, the worlds first roll-on roll-off ferry service links Burntisland and Edinburgh.

1918 — 1969 – Burntisland Shipbuilding Company builds over 400 ships. A fund establishes Burntisland Shipyard FC.

1970 — 2021 – The scale of port operations declines drastically from over two million tons to less than 50,000 tons a year, principally timber imports. For much of the time, there is little or no activity. The land to the east and south of the East Dock becomes derelict.

2022 – Despite requests for compromise and engagement with the community, protests, petitions and appeals, Forth Ports needlessly fence off public access to the harbour, thereby trampling over the traditional and historic right of access enjoyed throughout and before living memory. We successfully register a community interest under the Land Reform Act in the East Dock and adjacent land owned by Forth Ports and Network Rail.

2023 – The gates in the fence around the East Dock and southern breakwater are closed and locked by Forth Ports, ending centuries of unfettered public access. Firth of Forth Green Freeport bid accepted, with the likelihood that Burntisland will be twinned with Leith to develop off-shore energy installations and/or to be an overspill area.

2024 – professional legal advice confirms that public access rights exist but Forth Ports refuse to discuss. “Obey The Law” campaign is launched requiring Fife Council to fulfil its statutory duty to ensure access is restored.