Carnock is derived from the Gaelic
ceàrn ('corner') + the locational suffix
-òc (common among Celtic place names) meaning 'corner place, place at or in a corner'. This may refer to the location of the medieval parish church, immediately south of a sharp bend in the Carnock Burn. Carnock first appears in the historical record when its church was granted to the Hospital of St Mary of Loch Leven by
Bishop William of St Andrews between 1225 and 1236. After the Reformation in 1560 the church in Carnock was under the control variously of
Saline to the north and
Dunfermline to the east. Only in 1592 did it get its own minister, the ecclesiastical historian
John Row, who served the parish until 1645. He was succeeded by Rev George Belfrage who translated from
Culross in 1647. He died and was replaced by John Shaw in 1664 who was translated to
Kinnaird, Perthshire in 1679. His successor Thomas Marshall was deprived of office in 1689 for not signing the National Covenant. William Innes was minister 1693 to 1696. In 1699
James Hog took over and was a noted theological author. Daniel Hunter succeeded him in 1730, also serving as chaplain to the local family of Col Erskine. He died in 1739. The parish was then overseen by
Rev Thomas Gillespie from 1741 to 1752. Thomas Gillespie was founder of the Relief Synod which was latterly incorporated into the United Presbyterian Church. Gillespie was followed by Rev Thomas Adie in 1753 who died in 1780 and was replaced by Rev Alexander Thomson who died in 1826 to be replaced briefly by Robert Thomson. In 1827 Rev William Gilston took over. Gilston was responsible for the building of the new church in 1840 but moved to the Free Church of Scotland in the
Disruption of 1843 and was minister there until death in 1881 (a ministry in Carnock of 55 years!). Meanwhile the
Church of Scotland placed Rev Adam Black Douglas in their church from 1843. In 1774 upon Carneil hill, near Carnock, several urns containing Roman coinage were discovered. == Notable places ==