Law’s Close

Over the course of the 17^th and 18^th centuries the house passed through a succession of prominent local families, many of whom were engaged in maritime activities. One particularly wealthy resident in the late 1600s undertook a lavish redecoration of the interior, with panelling painted to imitate rare and expensive materials such as burr walnut, marble and tortoiseshell, and grand plaster ceilings. The ceilings were likely created by the noted plasterer Thomas Albourn and the painted tortoiseshell decoration is an extraordinarily rare survival that demonstrates just how colourful late-17^th century fashionable interiors could be.

Towards the end of the 18^th century the internal stair tower was removed in favour of a central pend and external stair tower to the rear. This enabled private access to the increasingly divided building, including the two ground-floor shops and as many as five separate dwellings over the rear wings and upper floors.

In 1838, the entire site was purchased by William Balderston, who had already established a bakery in the east ground-floor shop and constructed additional outbuildings to service this, including one with a large brick chimney and three ovens. This set the tone for the rest of the 19^th century, with the upper floors and one of the shops tenanted out and the rest of the premises occupied first by Balderston and then another baker, James Seath. This pattern continued into the 20^th century; the bakery became a restaurant and the upper floors remained occupied, though in a gradually deteriorating state. The building was Category A-listed in 1975, but remained unexplored for a further decade.

Large quantities of cement render were removed from the façade of the building and the damaged underlying 16^th-century stonework was carefully consolidated using the ‘lime method’, which at that point was still relatively new. During the project, a number of objects were discovered hidden within the walls and floors of Law’s Close, the most noteworthy of which was a 17^th-century map of the Gulf of Finland. This emerged from between two floor joists – a crumpled rag half-hidden by rubble that was spotted by Rory Young and carefully retrieved. This extraordinary find emphasised the building’s participation in a historic network of international trade.

The external work was completed in 1993, the same year that SHBT acquired ownership of the east ground-floor shop. However, with the initial phase of the project now complete, additional planning and fundraising was required to restore the interior. Whilst this was developed, further archaeological and documentary research was commissioned from Kirkdale Archaeology. This was completed from 1997 to 1998. Excavations of the ground floor interior revealed the remains of an earlier street frontage and the entrance steps to the original staircase, whilst additional documentary research established David Law as the earliest known owner.

Planning permission to allow conversion of the upper floors from residential to commercial use was finally granted in 2001. This enabled the second half of the project to be completed between 2003 and 2005, in conjunction with the wider Kirkcaldy Riggs Townscape Heritage Initiative. Alan Keillor of WBS Keillor Ltd became the main contractor, again working under Simpson & Brown, and numerous specialists were brought in to help with the specific task of conserving and recreating the historic decoration.

Each section was treated individually dependant on its condition; the ship painting was consolidated by Owen Davidson, whilst the painted decoration on the first floor was substantively recreated by Mike Pryor and Mark Nevin. Further discoveries included one of the earliest known depictions of the burgh arms of Kirkcaldy on the ground floor and an additional section of 17^th-century painted decoration on the second floor. The latter was carefully recorded by the artist William Kay before being covered over with thin sheets of plywood and replicated. This allowed the full impact of the original scheme to be experienced, whilst the original paintwork remained untouched.

The interior work was complemented by separate garden project, led by John Richards Landscape Architects. The space was redesigned to accommodate community gatherings and outdoor performances, with a series of productive trees and shrubs reflecting the garden’s original purpose.

The site was officially re-opened in September 2005 by Gordon Brown as MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath. In total, the project took almost 20 years and cost £1.3 million. Funders included: Historic Scotland, Heritage Lottery Fund, Scottish Enterprise Fife, Fife Environmental Trust, European Regional Development Fund, Fife Council, Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, The Russell Trust, Architectural Heritage Fund and The Dunard Trust. Upon completion of the project, the building was renamed Law’s Close, a slightly more memorable and characterful title than 339-343 High Street and one that reflected its newly-discovered origins.