South Range, Burntisland Burgh Chambers, High Street, Burntisland

Long two storey stone-built range abutting rear elevation of Burgh Chambers. Slated roof, stone-built chimneys (one rebuilt in brick) with cans. Cast iron rainwater goods, timber multi-pane over split pane windows to upper floor. Altered openings to ground floor. Boundary iron railings intact to east. External stair and porch entrance to upper floor, to West elevation.

Part of Burntisland Burgh Chambers, potentially predating current building as a long rectangular range appears on earlier mapping. Possible later addition of upper floor. Ground floor reported to have been former jail block with the upper floor housing the Burgh Officer (Burntisland Heritage Trust).

10 July 2024: External inspection, accompanied by Fife Council and Fife Historic Buildings Preservation Trust, finds the building overall in very poor condition. Close inspection of the west elevation was not attempted due to safety restrictions.

This rear range is disused, the upper floor flat reported to have been so for around twenty years. Whilst walls are generally plumb there is a crack and missing/ loose stones to the south gable and a cracked ground floor window cill to East - a 2018 structural report noted some bowing to the eastern elevation. There is mortar loss evident to all elevations. Damp patches to walls suggests rainwater goods are defective. Windows are mostly intact, some glazing is broken to western elevation. Chimney stacks are intact, as are most cans. The boundary wall and iron railings are intact to the east, but the protective painted finish is spalling and ironwork is rusting. The deterioration of the roof is of particular concern. There are missing or slipped slates to all pitches but the northern section of the west pitch has lost an extensive number of slates, exposing the timber sarking through which holes have already developed, allowing water ingress to the interior. A gutter to the west elevation is dislodged and hanging over the upper floor entrance.

An options appraisal was undertaken by Arc Architects and Community Enterprise on behalf of Royal Burgh of Burntisland Community Council, in 2018-19. It proposed the repair and conversion of the associated Burgh Chambers into a variety of community-led uses, including this rear range. Fife Historic Buildings Trust is nearing the completion of a feasibility refresh report, building on a 2018 study by Arc Architects.