The Patons of Wooers' Alley
A Walking Trail around Dunfermline
Explore the life and work of a family of 19th century artists and designers in Dunfermline
Find locations on the map below
Location 1
Site of Wooers' Alley Cottage, childhood home of the Paton family (demolished c.1926)
Located in the woods just west of Tesco car park
Site of Wooers' Alley Cottage
Wooers' Alley Cottage, the childhood home of the Paton Family until 1874, was a small Gothic-revival style house stood on the steep banks of the Tower Burn. Damask designer and collector Joseph Neil Paton opened his home as a museum of Scottish artefacts, which boasted treasures from the palaces around Scotland and the swords and bones of ancient kings. His most celebrated exhibit was the toe bone (metatarsal) of Robert the Bruce. Much of his collection is now in the National Museum of Scotland and Hunterian Collections.
The mossy rocks, meandering stream, wild flowers and twisting ivy-covered trees of the Wooers' Alley garden featured in some of the Patons' most important work, including Sir Joseph Noël Paton's painting of Malcolm Canmore & Queen Margaret and his famous fairy paintings displayed in the National Galleries of Scotland.
The cottage itself was demolished in c.1926, but evidence of the woodland garden and its steps and terraces can still be seen. The woodland was left neglected and littered for decades, and is slowly being restored by volunteers, but it is still a bit rough around the edges, so do take care. The banks are steep and can get very muddy, so sturdy footwear is recommended!
Image: Wooers' Alley Cottage, after Waller Hugh Paton. From Atalanta Magazine, 1893.
Location 2
Firestation Creative Arts Centre & Cafe,
Carnegie Dr, Dunfermline KY12 7AN
Firestation Creative Arts
Easel of Joseph Noel Paton
The easel once belonging to Sir Joseph Noël Paton is viewable on request. Do pop in for a coffee too!
Location 3
Mural on Bruce Street
Bruce Street
Mural inspired by J Neil Paton's Damask
by Nicola Atkinson.
Location 4
Dunfermline City Chambers,
6 Kirkgate, Dunfermline KY12 7NB
Items viewable by permission only.
Dunfermline City Chambers
The Spirit of Religion
This huge drawing on the stairs of the City Chambers, by Sir Joseph Noël Paton, was awarded a prize in 1845 when it was submitted to the Westminster Hall competition. It appears in the background of a portrait in oil of Joseph Noël Paton in his studio, by John Ballantyne.
Dunfermline City Chambers
The Seizure of Roger Mortimer
A large scale drawing by Sir Joseph Noël Paton (1845-6). Roger Mortimer 1st Earl of March, was a nobleman who acted as de facto ruler of England for three years, after leading a successful rebellion against Edward II. This picture by Sir J Noel Paton depicts Mortimer being captured in 1330 by the troops of Edward III, after which he was brutally hung.
Dunfermline City Chambers
Portrait bust of Alexander Kilgour
This portrait bust of former Town Clerk Alexander Kilgour, by Amelia Robertson Hill (née Paton) was presented to the city of Dunfermline in 1881.
An article at the time in the Dundee Courier* remarked that the sculptor had captured "the shrewdness and kindness which were characteristic of Mr Kilgour"
* Dundee Courier, 11th November 1881
Location 5
Dunfermline Carnegie Library and Galleries
1 Abbot St, Dunfermline KY12 7NL
Dunfermline Carnegie Library & Galleries
Queen Margaret & Malcolm Canmore
A painting in oil by Sir Joseph Noël Paton (1887).
This iconic Dunfermline painting represents everything which Noël Paton loved about his home town, particularly its royal history. It depicts King Malcolm Canmore sitting with his wife Queen Margaret, reading a text from the Bible. An article in the Dunfermline Journal at the time suggested that the wooded glen that they are sitting in was just below Wooers' Alley (home of the Patons), very close to St Margaret's Cave.
"Mossy trunks lie around the retreat of the royal pair, and wild flowers - including the Scottish bluebell – are springing amongst the grass. Allowing for the tendency for a lively and partial imagination to exaggerate when undoing the changes wrought by Time, and rehabilitating the past, the painted scene may still be accepted as an approximately accurate rendering of the part of the ravine immediately below WOOERS' ALLEY”*
* Dunfermline Journal, 24th August 1889
Image © The Carnegie Dunfermline Trust
Dunfermline Carnegie Library & Galleries
Portrait bust of Mrs Carnegie
This portrait bust in marble of Margaret Carnegie (mother of Andrew Carnegie), by Amelia Robertson Hill (née Paton), is situated in the Community Gallery (the old lobby of the library). It is thought to have been carved while Andrew Carnegie and his mother stayed with Amelia at her home in Edinburgh, before their famous trip around the Highlands.
A letter* at the time from Amelia to her brother Sir Noël remarked: "I have been at two busts and am nearly finished with the second that has been a very different one, Mrs Carnegie from America. You remember seeing her here. She is a grand creature and as noble a soul as I have ever met".
*Courtesy of the National Library of Scotland
Dunfermline Carnegie Library & Galleries
Sculpture of Robert Burns
This sculpture in plaster was the half-sized study for the much larger statue of Robert Burns, in the centre of Dumfries, by Amelia R Hill (née Paton). Amelia admired Burn's poetry greatly and campaigned very hard, along with the local people of Dumfries, to have a statue erected in his memory in his home town. Although the finished statue is located in Dumfries, there is a bit of Dunfermline in its design. Amelia once said in an interview*:
"The tree root upon which the poet leans in my Burns statue was copied from the one in our garden at Wooer’s Alley upon which I used to sit and learn my lessons, and dream".
*Tooley, Sarah, ‘An Interview with Mrs D. O. Hill,’ The Young Woman 35 (August 1895)
Dunfermline Carnegie Library & Galleries
Jacquard Loom
Both Joseph Noël Paton and Waller Hugh Paton started their careers as damask designers, like their father, before they became artists.
The Jacquard loom (situated upstairs in the gallery) is the type which would have been used to weave damask linen.
Location 6
Abbey Kirkyard
Abbey Kirkyard
Gravestone
This is the final resting place of Joseph Neil Paton the damask designer, along with his wife Catherine MacDiarmid Paton and their 3 youngest children, Archibald, Catherine and Alexa, who died in childhood. According to press reports, Catherine MacDiarmid Paton had a terrible nightmare in which she had a premonition that Death, "dwarfish, bent and shrivelled", raised his axe and killed her three youngest children Archibald, Catherine and Alexa. Tragically her nightmare came true and all three children died of scarlet fever within a year. Her four eldest children Sir Joseph Noël Paton, Amelia Robertson Hill (née Paton), Waller Hugh Paton and their sister Jemima thankfully survived.
Location 7
Dunfermline Abbey Church East Window
Dunfermline Abbey Church East
Dunfermline Abbey East Window
"The Last Supper"
'The Last Supper' is a stained glass window designed by Sir Joseph Noël Paton.
The original drawings of these windows were on display at the Paton exhibition at Dunfermline Carnegie Library & Galleries in 2024-2025.
Location 8
Dunfermline Old Abbey (Historic Environment Scotland)
Dunfermline Abbey west window
The Patriots Window
The stained glass in the west window of Dunfermline Abbey was designed by Sir Joseph Noël Paton. It features William Wallace, Malcolm Canmore, Queen Margaret and Robert the Bruce. The windows were commissioned by Andrew Carnegie who was a friend of Amelia Robertson Hill (née Paton).
Location 9
Andrew Carnegie Birthplace Museum
Moodie St, Dunfermline KY12 7PL
Andrew Carnegie Birthplace Museum
Paton Display
Inside the cottage where Andrew Carnegie grew up, you are now able to view a display which shows the life long friendship between Andrew Carnegie and the Paton family. Both the Carnegies and the Patons were Dunfermline weaving families and their friendship continued when Carnegie emigrated to America. Spot the two beautiful handmade cards from Sir Joseph Noël Paton to Andrew Carnegie, with sprigs of pressed heather which have survived for over 140 years.
We hope you enjoyed the Paton Trail.
If you are visiting Edinburgh, why not try The Amelia Trail, exploring the statues of Amelia Robertson Hill.