Aberdour, ‘at the mouth of the Dour’, was once in two parts - Easter and Wester Aberdour. These two villages grew up close to the natural harbour formed by the Dour burn estuary and the high headland of Hawkcraig Point. Wester Aberdour was made a Burgh of Barony in 1501 and Easter Aberdour became a Burgh of Regality in 1638.

In the early 14th Century Robert the Bruce granted the land of the Barony of Aberdour to his nephew, the Earl of Moray. In time, this land, which included Aberdour Castle, passed to the Douglas family, who became the Earls of Morton and one of the most powerful families in Scotland in the Middle Ages. The Earl of Morton still owns large parts of Aberdour today.