History of Craigencalt
Craigencalt Farm is a 23-acre smallholding very close to the southern shore of Fife just outside the town of Kinghorn and bordering Kinghorn Loch.
The derivation of the name is uncertain. Old maps show the name as Craigencat or Craigencault with one explanation being that is derived from “Crag of the Hazels”. There is currently no hazel on the crag but the crag itself was used for the quarrying of stones for the farm buildings.
Like many properties it has a long and varied history but as far as we know it began life as lint mill for processing flax sometime in the eighteenth century, but perhaps even earlier. The use of the two C- listed mills has changed over the decades and latterly one had a connection with the local brewing industry while the other had a connection with the whisky trade.
We don’t know when the mills stopped working but it was probably around the middle of the nineteenth century when Craigencalt started being referred to as a farm. From the late nineteenth century through to the 1960’s it was a fairly large (by the standards of the times) and prosperous dairy farm.
Times change however and some of the land was sold to a neighbouring arable farm and the farmhouse rented out until it and the remaining farmland was sold to Diana Neil and Di Bates in 1988.
Recent history
Diana was born in England in 1931 but spent much of her early childhood in Canada. She trained as an occupational therapist and returned to Canada to work. In 1958 she married Eric Neil and brought up two children in Toronto. The Neils became interested in Rudolf Steiner education and this formed one of the reasons for returning to the UK. Diana returned to her occupational therapy work but became interested in counselling, and through this met Doctor Di Bates. Di and Diana bought Craigencalt farm and set it up as a place of healing and community. Over the years Craigencalt flourished as a place which encouraged creative people, supported community groups and clubs and provided a home, and haven, for hundreds of individuals.
With the death of Di Bates the farm faced a period of uncertainty until Drs Penny and Chris Holland took over her share of the farm. The farm was then sold to Two Skies, one of the long-time tenants, in 2019.
Two Skies, set up by Adam McIntosh, was a tenant at Craigencalt for many years and owes much to the generosity of Diana in helping the business to get established.
With the encouragement and much valued support of Diana and Chris and Penny Holland Two Skies took over Craigencalt Farm in January 2019. Two Skies was happy to do this to ensure that their legacy was continued and to avoid the farm falling into the hands of developers. Two Skies sees itself as the next “stewards” of the farm - keeping it as a haven for the local community and continuing the practice of renting buildings to local artisans and creative individuals. This is no light undertaking however - considerable investment in both the buildings and grounds is needed to ensure that this important local heritage is maintained for future generations.
Diana Neil very sadly died in June 2021, aged 90, after being an integral and much valued part of the farm right up to the point that it was sold to Two Skies. She is very much missed by the local community.
Richard Neil, Diana's son, kept a faithful record of events at Craigencalt Farm during Diana's time there which is archived at http://www.craigencalt.co.uk/
