Historic St Andrews bed and breakfast and hotel accommodation
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Inrtoduction
St Andrews (Scottish Gaelic: Cill Rìmhinn) is a town and former royal burgh on the east coast of Fife, Scotland. According to the recent population estimate (2006), the town has a population of 16,596. It is named after Saint Andrew the Apostle. It is home to Scotland's oldest university, the University of St Andrews.
From mediaeval times until the Reformation, St Andrews was the ecclesiastical capital of Scotland: its bishop being the primus of the Scottish church. Today, its historic cathedral lies in ruins.
The town of St Andrews is known worldwide as the "home of golf". This is in part because the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, founded in 1754, exercises legislative authority over the game worldwide (except in the United States and Mexico), and also because the famous links (acquired by the town in 1894) is the most frequent venue for The Open Championship, the oldest of golf's four major championships. Visitors travel to St Andrews in great numbers for several courses ranked amongst the finest in the world, as well as for the sandy beaches.
The Martyrs Memorial, erected to the honour of Patrick Hamilton, George Wishart, and other martyrs of the Reformation epoch, stands at the west end of the Scores on a cliff overlooking the sea.
The University of St Andrews
The University of St Andrews owed its origin to a society formed in 1410 by Lawrence of Lindores, abbot of Scone, Richard Cornwall, archdeacon of Lothian, William Stephenson, afterwards bishop of Dunblane, and a few others. Bishop Henry Wardlaw (died 1440) issued a charter in 1411 and attracted the most learned men in Scotland as professors. In 1413 Avignon Pope Benedict XIII issued six bulls confirming the charter and constituting the society a university. Lectures took place in various parts of the town until 1430, when Wardlaw allowed the lecturers the use of a building called the Paedagogium, or St Johns College. Bishop Kennedy founded and richly endowed St Salvator's College in 1450; seven years later it gained the right to confer degrees in theology and philosophy, and by the end of the century was regarded as a constituent part of the university.
Sport and Leisure
St Andrews has a variety of sporting activities open to the public. The East Sands Leisure Centre, which sits on the outskirts of the town, is a popular place for tourists wishing to swim, play pool or even keep fit in the gym. On the local East Sands beach, surfing is possible though big waves are a rarity that are more common during the winter months. Kite flying is often found on the West Sands beach. Being the "Home of Golf", it is understandable that golf is St Andrews' most popular sport. Where it may cost £130 for an adult to play on the Old Course (as of 2008), it costs only a fraction of that to play on some of the other links courses. There are 7 links golf courses in all; Old, New, Jubilee, Eden, Strathtyrum, Balgove and the Castle Course.
