The St Andrews Pilgrim Foundation SCIO

We were delighted to host this year's golf auction winners here in the royal and ancient city - this year's luxury golf package featured tee times on the Old and New Courses, Dumbarnie, Kingsbarns, Kittocks and Castle Courses, plus a whisky tasting evening, lunch and tour of the R&A Clubhouse, and a tour of the British Golf Museum.

We hope that our four guests will look back on their visit with great pleasure, as we do.

It is with sadness that we announce the death on 26 September 2023 of our Honorary President, Sir Michael Bonallack OBE.

Rightly celebrated as Britain’s most decorated amateur golfer, the achievements of Sir Michael were legion and the trustees of the St Andrews Pilgrim Foundation join in the tributes now being paid to him by sharing this obituary composed by the Royal & Ancient Golf Club, of which Sir Michael was a former secretary and captain:

Obituary – Sir Michael Bonallack Sir Michael Bonallack, Britain’s most decorated amateur golfer and a leading administrator in the sport, has sadly passed away at the age of 88.

The Pilgrim Foundation is delighted to showcase our latest heritage project: the newly restored King's Field pillars at Cockshaugh Park. This work, which was undertaken by a local Fife stonemason, has brought the pillars and their decorative detail back to vivid life for the first time in decades.

A little history: the name "Cockshaugh" is a compound, the latter part of which refers to a piece of flat land beside a watercourse, the former to a winter curling target, a children’s game, or the surmount of the ribwort plantain, the heads of which children used to knock off as a summertime amusement.

Cockshaugh was anciently one of the priory acres of St Andrews, made over in the sixteenth century, as part of the lands of Rathelpie, to St Leonard's United College by Prior John Hepburn during the reign of James IV. In 1903 the Minister of St Leonards Parish Church raised an action claiming that the lands there formed part of his parish glebe (land reserved for the use of the minister of a parish) and challenged the notion that Cockshaugh was part of Rathelpie. This action was not successful but two years later, however, the Burgh Council was successful in obtaining from the university the lease of Cockshaugh, which it eventually purchased in 1951.

In June 1952 Cockshaugh became a protected "King’s Field" as part of a nationwide initiative set up in 1936 to commemorate the death of King George V, who had been particularly concerned about the effects of urbanisation on open spaces. This initiative, now called "Fields in Trust", has continued in its royal associations over the years and its current patron is HRH The Prince William, Duke of Rothesay.

The King George V Field at Cockshaugh was formally opened by Jessie Love Moir, Provost of the Royal Burgh of St Andrews from 1952 to 1955. The keen-eyed will now more easily discern on the newly restored entryway pillars the United Kingdom Royal Coat of Arms as used in Scotland - two quarters feature the Scottish lion rampant, one quarter features the three English lions, and one quarter features the Irish harp.

We hope visitors and residents alike will enjoy seeing the restored pillars of the King's Field as they walk the burn side woodland delight that is the Lade Braes.

We are delighted to showcase our recent improvements to Muttoes Lane.

Restoration work to Muttoes included the fitting of an inscribed nomenclatural entryway stone at either end of the wynd and the replacement of municipal concrete slabs with beautiful Caithness flagstones; also, a range of necessary practical works, such as the installation of BT approved recessed manhole covers and frames, proprietary bedding on 100mm cement-bound granular sub-base and the replacement of an existing choked gulley. The improvements cost the StAPF in the region of £61K and we are as ever deeply indebted to the Alfred Dunhill Links Foundation for making this heritage and restoration work possible.

Originally known as "Bakehouse Close", the iconic Muttoes Lane dates to the sixteenth century when the eponymous Mutto family owned a number of properties thereat - Andrew Mutto, a baker, kept premises at the north end of the lane, and John Mutto, town clerk, at the south. John Mutto served as clerk to the burgh for an astonishing fifty years and was responsible for creating "The Register Book of the City of St Andrews", a collection of records, charters and property transactions pertaining to the town council, at the behest of Provost Learmonth (Sir Patrick Learmonth of Dairsie), during the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots. The Register, or "Little Black Book" as it became known, first appeared on 10th October 1550, and this important historical record remains an enduring testament to its creator, John Mutto of Muttoes Lane.

The Pilgrim Foundation was delighted to welcome the winners of this year’s golf auction to our home here in the royal and ancient city.

The winners enjoyed rounds of golf on the Castle Course, Old Course, New Course and Jubilee Course, as well as out of town games at the Carnoustie and Kingsbarns championship courses, in addition to a whisky tasting evening, lunch and tour of the R&A and dinner with the StAPF trustees.

The proceeds from the golf auction and the generous support we receive from the Alfred Dunhill Links Foundation allow us to carry out our wonderful heritage work in St Andrews, which has in the past year included the renovation of Muttoes Lane, the restoration of Baker Lane, and the granting of a large donation to the restoration of the Bow Butts Bandstand.

The image accompanying this post shows our wonderful winning party below the R&A prior to their tee off on the Old Course.

Images of the recently restored Bow Butts Bandstand, to which the St Andrews Pilgrim Foundation donated £37,500.

Situated at the ancient site of the former archery butts (a shooting field, with mounds of earth used as targets), the bandstand dates to the late nineteenth century and formed part of the transformation of St Andrews from a mediæval burgh to a seaside holiday town.

The St Andrews Pilgrim Foundation is pleased to showcase our wonderful heritage and conservation work in St Andrews via our newly launched website:

St Andrews Pilgrim Foundation SCIO The St Andrews Pilgrim Foundation SCIO (Scottish Charity Number SC047873) is a registered charity and was set up in 1999 on the initiative of the late Patrick Cassells. The purpose of the Foundation is to conserve, improve, and develop the historic character of the town of St Andrews for the benefit...

The fitting of this heritage lantern adds an elegant dimension to our restoration of Logie's Lane and Church Square.

Logies Lane is the oldest wynd in St Andrews; its inception as a "desire line" dates to the 1400s and its name is derived from Canon Preceptor Logie of St Salvator's College.

Visitors to Logies will notice a carved nomenclatural stone on the wall of the pend abutting Market Street - reflecting the commencement of the Playfair administration in 1842, this nomenclatural stone dates to approximately 1843 when Provost Playfair caused many of the street names in St Andrews mediæval quarter to be Anglicised; a great cultural misfortune as the original Scots names are quite wonderful.

Fortunately, 'Logies', 'Muttoes' and 'Crails' are all original names, but each should be called 'wynd', rather than 'lane' - as in 'Butts Wynd', a name mercifully unaffected by the ministrations of Provost Playfair.

Prior to 1842, Logie's Lane would have been known as "Logie's Wynd".

The StAPF was delighted to host the winning party of our unique luxury golf package, Dave, Paul, Tom and John, as they enjoyed their tee times at St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns in glorious June sunshine.

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