Crawford Priory, Fife April 2008. INSIDE STORY

Thanks to Foz for the heads up on this place. It was lucky enough to be included in Zimbob and Bryag's Fife Odyssey. What an amazing building it must have been in it's day.

Also, although it is called "Crawford Priory", it never actually was a priory, so perhaps this is not the correct section. I am sure admin will move if necessary.

I believe Spacepunk has already done a report on it, but did not venture too far in . We bit the bullet and had a few scares, and I even fell in that comedic "save the camera" way

Here is a pic in the early 20th century. Image property of Dundee City Council


For copyright reasons, I cannot copy the information here, but please followe this link for the history of the house http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/scotgaz/features/featurefirst9808.html

Some pics from our visit


I cannot stress enough how dangerous this site is


There are large chunks of masonry, plaster and the remaining wood beams waiting to fall on someones head








The rest of the externals




The different periods of architecture are very obvious


There is a TV aerial at the top of that ivy clad tower

Insides

Now for the insides, or what are left of them



The arched window frame has fallen out and is resting on this less than sound looking beam




Inside one of the towers


There must have been panelling over the original plasterwork


The front vestibule (which was moved from the side)


Main doors


There is some obvious fire damage










Sometimes it was unclear if you were inside or out


Old fuse board




We found this magnificent hallway and stair






















Apologies for the number of pics, but I found it a fascinating place. I hope you do too

That's a great building, thanks

Jesus, you actually went up those stairs?

Nice stuff - the picture below shows the lift it used to have. You can still see the wheels and pulleys on the top, its just that the building surrounding it has disappeared.


It's a travesty that this building is so far gone

Yes Foz, despite the stairs supporting several tons of plaster and rubble, I calculated the cast iron hand-rail would support my weight if the stairs decided to give way. Actually, they were very well made and will probably still be there after the rest of the building is gone I did not attempt the landing though, mainly because the fruit of my endeavour would have been a 20 foot drop into the rubble that would have been the main hall, and also that a section of the cast iron railing had been replaced with a rather dodgy looking piece of timber. So the odds were stacked against me.

Thanks for directing us to this place, Foz. It is desperately sad it has gone this far, but I doubt it would be economically viable to preserve. I expect they will knock it down before someone gets hurt

what a sad end for a very grand building thank you for showing us

Well done for getting in guys.

Also, I request more 'Fife Odyssey' pics!

More excellent photo's I especially like the stair case!

Wow, that is one gorgeous building. Superb set of photos, Bryag...thoroughly enjoyed seeing those.

Top of the staircase

Congratulations on the top of the staircase. These pics mean a lot to me as it is family heritage.