There is no evidence of a permanent settlement establishing itself around the current site of Cowdenbeath until the designation of the original Beath Kirk as a parish church in 1429-30 to act as a focal point to serve the surrounding area. The earliest written record of Beath (Beth) was found in a charter of Inchcolm Abbey, dated 6 March 1178. This charter makes reference to the Chapel of Beth. Although it is generally accepted that the word "beath" in Gaelic means ’birch’, P.W. Brown suggests that the word means ‘abode’ or ‘a settlement.’ In 1643 the Reverend John Row of Carnock, a leading opponent of episcopacy, was instrumental in establishing the Parish of Beath as an entity in its own right by separating it from the parish of Dalgety Bay and Aberdour. This significant date followed the building of a new church in 1640 at Beath, to replace the ruins of a sanctuary, which had fallen into sad disrepair. The present church, visible today, was constructed in 1834–35 by James MacFarlane and was altered in 1884–1886. is alleged that the infamous graverobbers Burke and Hare sourced some of their cadavers from Beath Cemetery, to supply to the Scottish surgeon Robert Knox for dissection. Precautions were taken at Beath Cemetery to prevent body-snatching and for many years what were taken to be two iron coffins without lids dug up from the old churchyard lay near the old hearse house. These were not actually coffins, but old-time safes that were placed over the coffin to hinder the work of the body-snatchers. Another preventative measure adopted was the placing of a large flat stone on top of the grave. This stone was very heavy and was placed on the grave and removed by means of a trestle hoist, the rope going through the stone and fastened on the underside, and it remained there until the danger of "snatching" was past. The two "safes" have since disappeared, but the flat stone is still to be seen near the church. The Blaeu Atlas of Scotland , published in 1654 by eminent 17th-century Dutch cartographer Joan Blaeu, refers to Cowden Beth in the current vicinity of Cowdenbeath.