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The name of Anstruther derives from Scottish Gaelic. The second element is sruthair ('burn, stream'), but the first element less certain: it is possibly Gaelic á(i)n ('driving') or aon ('one'), thus meaning either 'driving current or burn' or '(place of or on) one burn'. The name of Anstruther Easter derives from Scots easter ('eastern'), since the village lies to the east of Anstruther, and Anstruther Wester correspondingly from Scots wester ('western').
Anstruther-Easter and Anstruther-Wester are separated by a small stream called Dreel Burn.
Local tradition states that early in the 12th century, Alexander I of Scotland granted the lands of Anstruther to a William de Candela. However, no records survive of this original grant, and the earliest recorded lord of Anstruther was mentioned in a charter of 1225. There have been several theories as to the origin of the, possibly mythical, William, but recent research has suggested he may have been a Norman from Italy. There is evidence that William the Conqueror sought assistance from William, Count of Candela. He sent his son (or possibly his grandson). It may be this was the William de Candela, who received the grant of land from Alexander. William de Candela's son, another William, was said to be a benefactor to the monks of Balmerino Abbey. Balmerino was founded in 1229, long after the likely lifetime of this William. Land in Anstruther Easter, on which a chapel was built and now occupied by the Scottish Fisheries Museum, was gifted to Balmerino by another William, sometime in the 1280s. Both this suggestion, and the Italian origin theory are inaccurate. The de Candela family actually came from Dorset, coming to England probably from Normandy in or around 1066. The de Candela name was dropped by a later generation, in a charter confirming a grant of land to Dryburgh Abbey in 1225, Henry is described as 'Henricus de Aynstrother dominus ejusdem'. His son, also called Henry, was a companion of Louis IX in his crusades to the Holy Land and also swore fealty to Edward I in 1292 and again in 1296.
In 1225, it took the intervention of Pope Honorius III to settle a teinds dispute between the monks of Dryburgh Abbey and the fishermen of Anstruther, suggesting that the fishing was sufficiently good to warrant arguing over. In December 1583, James VI of Scotland gave the town the status of a Royal Burgh and trading rights, recognizing the importance of the port, called the draucht of Anstruther. The bounds of the new Burgh were the "Silver Dyke" on the east, the low water line on the south, the Anstruther burn to the west, and the Kylrynnie march road.
James Melville's diary provides a graphic account of the arrival of a ship from the Spanish Armada to Anstruther. Local tradition has long held that some of the survivors remained and intermarried with the locals. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the town was home to The Beggar's Benison, a gentleman's club devoted to "the convivial celebration of male sexuality".
By the 19th century, Anstruther-Easter, Anstruther-Wester, and Kilrenny were all separate royal and parliamentary boroughs. Anstruther-Easter held tanning, shipbuilding, and fish-curing establishments, as well as a coasting trade. In 1871, the royal burgh of Anstruther-Easter had a population of 1169; the parliamentary burgh, 1289. Anstruther-Wester held 484. The Board of Fisheries constructed a new harbour in the 1870s, completed by 1877 at a cost of £80,000. By the First World War, the communities were connected to St Andrews by the North British Railway.
The Dreel Halls complex incorporates the former Anstruther Wester Town Hall, which dates from 1795, while Anstruther Easter Town Hall was completed in 1872.
Although the drop in the catch in 1909 came as a shock , fishing from Anstruther continued to prosper in the years leading up to the First World War.
Fishery StatisticsTonnage of vesselsCwt of fish landedVessels by classValue (£) of fish landedFishermenNumber of curing stations
Herring fishing remained a feature of the area until the mid-20th century when, after a record catch in 1936, the shoals mysteriously declined until the industry effectively disappeared by 1947. At one time, the town was well served by trains on the Fife Coast Railway. The line was closed to passengers in 1965.
In the summer of 2018 a decision by Fife Council to build a new care home facility on the town's Bankie Park was reversed after a campaign by residents.
