James Melville Manse, built in 1590, is steeped in history and could easily become the most expensive house sold in Anstruther.

Vandalism and maintenance costs for the grade A listed house had become too problematic for the Church of Scotland, explained the Rev Mary King as the Kirk searches for a suitable new manse.

And, in the meantime, the historic manse lies boarded up behind its highwalls, with CCTV and new gates and padlocks deterring unwanted visitors.

She said: "It just had to happen. It's very sad to have to sell it but we struggled for years and years.

"Even the wall running round the manse is Grade A listed and we had to spend £4500 on that so you can just imagine the costs of running the entire property.

"We approached headquarters in Edinburgh and said we could no longer manage to spend a vast sum keeping the building up to scratch.

"So, it is being sold and it shouldn't be too long before it comes up."

Armada

The manse was built by James Melville, whose uncle can lay claim to being the founder of the Church of Scotland.

James, who was born just outside Dundee in 1556, was fated to preside over one of the most dramatic events in Anstruther's history.

In 1588, as the English decimated the Spanish Armada off the south coast of England, some Spanish ships escaped by sailing around Scotland.

As fears of an invasion increased north of the border, the citizens of Anstruther awoke one morning to find a strange ship, barely afloat, in the harbour.

Their alarm only increased when they realised the ship was indeed Spanish and had 270 beleaguered sailors on board.

Although the sailors were Catholic, Melville decreed they should be treated well by the townspeople until they were repatriated to Spanish Flanders.

Indeed, such was the warmth of the hospitality they received, Captain Don Juan Gomez presented his own sea chest to Melville as a token of thanks.

Two years later, the people of Anstruther helped Melville build the manse by using sledges to drag tons of stones from the beach and, once complete, the Spanish chest was installed above the door in the Tower Room overlooking the sea.

"We had a tremendous problem with vandalism after the Rev Ian Cathcart left, " said Ms King.

"It's not the church's prime purpose to spend money on its manses, rather it should spend money on churches, for the benefit of people.

"Despite not being owned by the church, James Melville Manse will still remain as part of Anstruther's heritage," she continued.

"After all, being grade A listed, it cannot be altered."

Important

Martin Dibley, Secretary of Anstruther Community Council welcomed news of its sale.

He commented: "It's good to see that such a prominent and historically significant building will be put to good practical use.

"It's probably one of the coldest buildings on the planet, it will cost a fortune to run and will have to be maintained to the highest standard, but I assume the person who buys it will not be too concerned by that.

"It's absolutely wonderful and sits on a prominent position overlooking the sea - it's one of the most important buildings in Anstruther."

He added: "In terms of the sea chest, I'm sure the Anstruther Burgh Collection curators will take a very keen interest in what happens."

A spokesperson from local estate agents Murray Donald Drummond Cook said the sale would be "unique" in Anstruther's real estate history.

"We've had properties sell for up to £800,000, but that's not very often," she said.

"It could be worth £1 million, but with houses like this you just don't know. It will find its own price, but I think this will be very popular if it hits the right market."