Pittencrieff Park & House Ambition Project
Our Mission:
Pittencrieff Park is Scotland’s Primary Destination for Happiness, Wellbeing, Health and Education.
History of the Park
Pittencrieff Park, known locally as the Glen, is a magnificent 80-acre greenspace located in the heart of the City of Dunfermline, Scotland. Dunfermline is situated in central Scotland, a 30 minute drive or train journey from Edinburgh. The park was gifted to the people of Dunfermline by the world-renowned industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie in 1903. As a boy growing up in Dunfermline, young Andrew had been banned from the then-private Pittencrieff Estate. After he made his fortune, he took great delight in buying Pittencrieff House and Estate and gifting it to the people of his hometown. He described it as ‘the most soul-satisfying public gift I ever made, or ever can make’. Strong words indeed from the man who gave so much to humankind.
The park's centrepiece is Pittencrieff House, a beautiful 17th-century Lairds Hose and the former family home of General John Forbes.
The Park Today
Pittencrieff Park is extremely well used and attracts over 750,000 visitors annually. It is a multi-generational, multi-cultural, inclusive meeting and play space. There is genuine love and ownership by local people and visitors, and it was voted the best park in Scotland in 2019.
The park is owned by the Carnegie Dunfermline Trust, and maintained by Fife Council. For many years this business model has worked well, with a mixture of investment by both organisations as well as Lottery Funding. However, public finances have become constrained over recent years, and the trust & council are now exploring new innovate ways of maintaining the beauty of the park and its buildings in a sustainable way.
Pittencrieff House has been closed to the public for several years and we are determined to get this iconic building back open for local people and visitors to enjoy.
Our Ambition:
Our ambition is to keep the legacy of Andrew Carnegie’s most ‘soul satisfying ‘gift alive and fit for purpose as a 21st Century destination park in our new City of Dunfermline.
We will achieve this by:
Reimagining the park as an iconic centre of activity for fitness, wellbeing, music, education and ecology.
Regenerating the heritage buildings to meet the needs of the 21st Century. Creating modern facilities that remain flexible for a variety of uses.
Offering learning/training opportunities within the park setting by working collaboratively with colleges, universities and employers in Scotland and beyond.
Developing the park facilities and increasing the number of outdoor events, activities and concerts.
Creating a virtual Pittencrieff Park Experience with Pittencrieff House telling the unique story of the park and the people who shaped it.
Developing more volunteering opportunities within the park to connect people, improve wellbeing and reduce loneliness.
Engaging with young people and asking them to be our ‘Imagineers’ for the future.
Getting involved
The American-Scottish Foundation is proud to work with the Carnegie Dunfermline Trust to designate the Pittencrieff Park and House Ambition Project as a directed giving project of the Foundation. The American-Scottish Foundation is a non profit 501c3 organization and all donations made through the Foundation are tax deductible in the United States to the extent of the law.
Please make checks payable to
The American-Scottish Foundation, Inc.
864 Lexington Ave, 2nd Floor, New York NY 10065.