Bruce Tavern, 12-14 Bruce Street, Dunfermline

This is a late 18th to early 19th century terraced block, with significant alterations made over time. It incorporates public house and shop premises at ground floor level. Shops were inserted into numbers 8 and 10 in the early 20th century, and the main part of the Bruce Tavern (number 12) was substantially refronted around the same time. A later 20th-century addition is the upper storey on number 14, which was originally part of the Bruce Tavern.

The west-facing principal elevation is rendered and painted, with varied materials used elsewhere. Numbers 8 and 10 have coursed rubble walls, rendered and with painted ashlar dressings. Other sections feature coursed painted stone, while the upper floor of the Bruce Tavern (number 12) has stugged stone obscured by paint, along with painted ashlar dressings. The upper floor of number 14 is constructed of concrete. The first-floor windows of numbers 8 and 10 are architraved, and those of number 12 are moulded.

The main entrance to the Bruce Tavern (number 12) is centrally located, featuring a two-leaf panelled timber door with a triple-pane rectangular fanlight. To the right are two windows, the outer one being larger, and to the outer left is another window. Wide masonry pilaster strips flank the ground floor, topped by a cornice. Above, a cill band runs the length of the first floor, with regularly disposed windows and flanking quoins, finished with an eaves band. A former entrance to the Bruce Tavern, now to the right of number 14, has a nine-panel timber door with a six-pane rectangular fanlight. An entrance to a shop is to the left, with a panelled timber door, glazed upper panel, painted rectangular fanlight, and a display window. An inserted first-floor entrance, with a two-leaf panelled timber door, is located on the outer left. Two windows are above this entrance, and two large windows with concrete architraves are on the second floor. The shopfronts of numbers 8 and 10 feature a dentilled timber fascia, recessed panelled timber doors with glazed upper panels, narrow side lights, rectangular fanlights, and large shop windows to either side. An entrance to the upper floor is on the outer right with a boarded timber door and boarded rectangular fanlight. The first floor above the shopfronts has four regularly disposed windows.

The interior of the Bruce Tavern retains its original plan and fittings largely unaltered since the turn of the 20th century. A long bar, curved at one end, occupies most of the length of the main room of number 12. A beam across the ceiling is supported by a pair of columns. Access is provided through the bar to a rear snug and first-floor rooms. A panelled door with a glazed shutter provides access into a passageway (now part of number 14), leading to a wine cellar and storage rooms to the rear of the premises; the entire ground floor of number 14 was historically part of this pub. The bar front and walls of the public areas are entirely lined with timber matchboarding. Original turn-of-the-century bar gantry fittings are present, featuring mirrored glass behind shelves and arcading in front, along with an embossed till. Other interior spaces were not inspected during the 1998 survey.