Pittenweem Priory

The 6th century religious recluse St Monan is believed to have lived at a monastery at Pittenweem before leaving to take up residence in a small cave at Inverey.

[1] Antiquarian Robert Sibbald says that in 1100, Edgar, King of Scotland gave Pittenweem to the Culdees.

David I of Scotland granted the monks the manor of Pittenweem,[3] where they erected a priory[4] over the ancient sacred cave associated with Saint Fillan.

Due to raiding parties from Orkney, the relative isolation of the community, and privations due to the difficulty of securing supplies, in 1288, Reading sold the Isle of May priory to the Bishop of St. Andrews, who gave it the canons of St Andrews Cathedral Priory.

It was less exposed to incursions by the English, nearer to the superior house at St. Andrews, and could be reached without the necessity of a precarious passage by sea.