Smith and Hutton boatyard, Anstruther 1973

For much of the 20th century, the boatyard of Smith & Hutton stood as a vital part of Anstruther’s maritime heritage. Tucked along the town’s East Shore, this small but busy yard played a key role in the Scottish fishing industry, building traditional wooden boats that served communities up and down the east coast. Today, the legacy of Smith & Hutton lives on through the Scottish Fisheries Museum, which now occupies the historic site.

The buildings that housed Smith & Hutton date from the late 18th and early 19th centuries and are now listed for their historical significance. Originally part of the thriving boatbuilding trade that served Fife’s herring fleets, the yard rose to prominence in the post-war years. Skilled craftsmen at Smith & Hutton produced long liners, drifters, and other vessels designed to withstand the harsh conditions of the North Sea.

One of the yard’s most notable achievements came in 1957, with the launch of the Radiation—the largest vessel ever built on site, and the last long liner to be registered in Aberdeen. It marked a high point in Anstruther’s boatbuilding history and symbolised the enduring importance of wooden fishing vessels during a time of rapid change in the fishing industry.

Work continued into the early 1970s, and photos from 1974 show craftsmen like Jim Wallace, R. Lowrie McBain, and Mel Ednie still shaping timbers and fitting hulls using traditional tools and techniques. But change was on the horizon. The rise of steel and fibreglass hulls, along with industrial decline, spelled the end for many small yards. In 1975, Smith & Hutton went bankrupt, bringing more than a century of boatbuilding on the site to a close.

Fortunately, the story didn’t end there. The Scottish Fisheries Museum, founded in 1969, soon expanded into the former Smith & Hutton yard. Today, the workshops are used to restore historic vessels and to train new generations in traditional boatbuilding techniques. Volunteers and museum staff keep the skills alive, working within the very buildings where so many East Neuk boats were once built.