Tayport - History

History

A ferry service across the Tay was already well established when these lands were granted to the newly formed Arbroath Abbey about 1180. The abbey constructed shelter and lodgings for pilgrims making the trip between St Andrews and Arbroath via the ferry and this formed the core of a settlement that steadily grew over the centuries.

At the time a chapel was built in the early 13th century, the settlement was called Partan Craig, Gaelic for "Crab Rock." Possibly more of an abbey than chapel. The site was excavated in the 30's or earlier.

Over the following two hundred years English usage eroded many Gaelic place names in eastern Scotland and Partan Craig had become known as Portincragge by 1415 and as Port-in-Craige by the end of the 15th century. In 1598 the settlement received is burgh charter in the name of Ferry-Port on Craig.

Ferry-Port on Craig saw a dramatic increase in population at the end of the 18th century when tenants displaced by agricultural improvement and clearances, came to take advantage of jobs in the town's textile and shipbuilding industries. Leisure opportunities also increased. Golf came early to Ferry-Port on Craig, with a course laid out in 1817, despite the efforts of a local farmer, who twice ploughed up the course.

A road to Newport-on-Tay, three miles to the east, with its less weather-prone and better used ferry service to Dundee meant that Ferry-Port on Craig was intermittently without a ferry during the first half of the 19th century. By the 1840s a steam ferry service had resumed between the community and Broughty Ferry. This was acquired, in 1851, by the Edinburgh, Perth and Dundee Railway which used the route for a railway ferry service from Edinburgh to Aberdeen. Instead of Ferry-Port on Craig, the railway company called the town 'Tayport' and the simpler name stuck.

The rail ferry ceased operation in 1878 with the opening of the Tay Rail Bridge, only to resume operations the following year when the bridge collapsed. With the opening of the replacement bridge in 1887 Tayport returned to a passenger-only ferry, which continued to run to from the town to Broughty Ferry until 1920.

The opening of the Tay Road Bridge in 1966 put Tayport within a few minutes' drive of the centre of Dundee, and it has since evolved into a pleasant dormitory town for that city. Some industry remains, but the harbour is now given over almost wholly to leisure craft, and attractive new housing has been built where once railway carriages were manoeuvered onto ferries.

Reminders of Tayport's earlier life and identity remain. In the centre of the town is Ferry-Port on Craig Church, established in 1607 and rebuilt in 1794 and again 1825, though Protestant worship now takes place in Tayport Parish Church, built in 1843 as Ferry-Port on Craig Free Church. There is also a Catholic church (part of the Diocese of Dunkeld), appropriately named Our Lady, Star of the Sea in the community.

Local tourist amenities include local shops, a caravan park, tennis club, an 18-hole golf course (Scotscraig Golf Club) and large areas of parkland, namely the East and West Common.

The Harbour Cafe is a community enterprise and has magnificent views of the harbour. Profits from the Cafe will be used to fund community projects in Tayport. It is open 7 days a week in summer (not Sunday in the winter season).

The Canniepairt, Tayport is the home to both Tayport F.C. and to the well-known Tayport car boot sales. These sales, which are held every second Sunday from April to September, are popular with locals and visitors alike.

Bottlenosed dolphins are regular visitors to the Tay Estuary from March to September, and can be observed at very close quarters from Tayport harbour. Tayport harbour is also a good place for fishing although swimming is dangerous due to currents.