Historic Places in Fife

Aberdour Castle is made up of a range of buildings dating from around 1200. It was extended to become a tower house in 15th century. The last major additions were made in 17th century. The tower house collapsed in ruins in 1844. In 1924 it was turned over to the state and declared an ancient monument. Aberdour Castle was originally owned by the de Mortimer family in the 12th century then the Douglases in 1342. The Earl of Morton moved in around 1456 and generations of the family owned until 1790.

Balgonie Castle is situated on the south bank of the River Leven near Milton of Balgonie, 2.5 miles east of Glenrothes, Fife. The original keep was built in the 14th century, and other structures were added until the 18th century. The tower has been recently restored, but other parts of the castle are ruins.The Tower is approximately 75 feet to the parapets with walls 10 feet thick at the base. The Great Hall is in original condition. The castle courtyard is surrounded by a defensive wall that was over 20 feet high. Since the restoration of the Chapel in 1989, the Castle has been used as a wedding venue.The Castle is licenced for Civil Weddings. The Great Hall is used for weddings, banquets and receptions, corporate events and parties. The sandstone Tower was built in the 14th century for Sir Thomas Sibbald of Balgonie. A North Range was built in 1496 for Sir Robert Lundin of Balgonie with a defensive 10 foot gap between it and the Tower. There is a chapel on the ground floor. The gap between the Tower and Hall House was filled in by a Tower in 1666. Balgonie fell into disrepair in the late 19th century, and the roofs were removed.The castle was vandalised in the 1960s. Raymond Morris of Balgonie & Eddergoll bought the castle in 1985, and is restoring it back to its original condition. Famous visitors to Balgonie Castle include Daniel Defoe, Dr Benjamin Rush (signatory of the American Declaration of Independence), James Boswell and Dr Johnson.

Ballinbreich Castle is a ruined fourteenth and fifteenth-century castle on the south bank of the River Tay near Newburgh in Fife, a stronghold of the Leslie family, later earls of Rothes, one of the major noble families of medieval Scotland. The castle's strategic position overlooking the tidal Tay estuary controlled movement between Fife and Perthshire. The town of Newburgh nearby preserves the ruins of Lindores Abbey, an important Tironensian foundation of 1191 associated with the earliest documentary evidence of whisky distillation in Britain, dating to 1494. The wider northern Fife landscape between the Tay and the fertile agricultural interior is an area of quiet rural beauty with a scattered heritage of historic farmhouses and ancient monuments.

Collairnie Castle near Cupar in Fife is a sixteenth-century tower house associated with the Barclay family, one of the numerous gentry families who held modest estates throughout the fertile agricultural heartland of this prosperous Scottish kingdom. Fife is one of the most remarkable Scottish counties for the survival of medieval and early modern architecture, with an exceptional number of tower houses, castles, market towns and ecclesiastical buildings reflecting significant agricultural wealth, important seaports on both Forth and Tay, and the ancient university city of St Andrews. The area around Cupar in central Fife is typical of the productive agricultural character of the county, a gently rolling landscape of arable fields, estate woodland and small country houses.

Dairsie Castle is a 16th-century tower house overlooking the River Eden south of Dairsie in Fife. The castle is a three-storey central block with vaulted cellars and three towers. The castle was restored as a private residence in 1996. The towers, vaulted cellars, central block have all been renovated. The great hall has a minstrels gallery and the entrance hall has a painted roof showing the seals of the Bishops of St Andrews. The castle has extensive gardens including a herb garden, parterre, lawns and avenue of lime trees. The current structure was built by the Learmonth family in the early 16th century. The castle besieged by James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton in 1575. James VI escaped to Dairsie in 1583 following his imprisonment after the Ruthven Raid. In 1616 Dairsie was acquired by the Archbishop of St. Andrews. The castle later was owned by the Morrisons, then the Scotts and remained occupied until the 19th century when it fell into ruin.

Falkland Palace in Fife, Scotland is a former royal palace of the Scottish Kings. Today it is the only Royal Palace in the care of the National Trust for Scotland. Falkland Palace is a Renaissance building situated at the foot of the Lomond Hills. The current building was built by James IV and James V between 1450 and 1541 and the Palace was a country residence of the Stuart monarchs of Scotland for over 200 years. The Palace has extensive gardens. Falkland Palace can be hired for weddings and other events. The Scottish Crown acquired Falkland Castle from MacDuff of Fife in the 14th century. In the first half of the 16th century, Kings James IV and James V of Scotland transformed the old castle into one of the finest Renaissance palaces in Scotland. James V died at Falkland in December 1542 after hearing that his wife had given birth to a daughter—Mary, Queen of Scots. Falkland became a popular retreat with all the Stewart monarchs. After the Union of the Crowns, James VI and I, Charles I, and Charles II all visited Falkland. The palace fell into ruin after Oliver Cromwell's army burned it down. In 1887 John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute started the restoration of the palace. Falkland Palace has been in the possession of the Crichton Stuart family since then. In 1952 the National Trust for Scotland was appointed custodian of the Palace and they now maintain the Palace and its extensive gardens. In the gardens is a tennis court built in 1539 - it is the world's oldest tennis court still in use and home to the Falkland Palace Royal Tennis Club.

Fernie Castle near Cupar in Fife is a sixteenth-century tower house operated as a hotel within the historic building, offering accommodation combining genuine Scottish historical atmosphere with modern hospitality standards. The castle's characteristic harled walls, corbelled corner turrets and steep-pitched roof typical of Fife tower houses of the period have been maintained in good condition. The proximity to the historic town of Cupar and the coast at St Andrews makes Fernie Castle a practical base for exploring the rich heritage and natural attractions of central Fife. Fife contains one of the most remarkable concentrations of historic buildings in Scotland, from the royal palace at Falkland and the cathedral and castle at St Andrews to numerous tower houses, market towns and coastal burghs reflecting the county's long history of agricultural prosperity and maritime trade.

Kellie Castle is situated about 3 miles north of Pittenweem in the East Neuk of Fife, Scotland. Kellie Castle was originally a simple tower house. The lower section of the northwest tower is the oldest part of the castle, dating from around 1360. In 1573 a new tower was built by the 4th Lord Oliphant to the east of the original tower. Between 1573 and 1606 the two towers were linked by a new range, and a third tower in the south-west, creating a T-plan layout. The castle is a good example of Scottish Baronial architecture, with fine corbelled towers, and chimneys. The earliest records of Kellie go back to 1150. The first known owner was Robert of London, son of King William the Lion. The estate passed to the Oliphant family in 1360 and the castle remained in the Oliphant family until 1613. It was then purchased by Sir Thomas Erskine, Earl of Mar, who had saved the life of King James VI during the Gowrie Conspiracy by killing Sir Alexander Ruthven. King James VI stayed at Kellie in 1617 during his only visit to Scotland after the Union of the Crowns. The Erskines occupied the castle until early 19th century, after which the castle lay abandoned for many years. In 1878 it was rented by James Lorimer, a Professor of Law at Edinburgh University, and father to Sir Robert Lorimer, the renowned Scottish architect. The Lorimer family restored the castle and it became the family home. The walled garden was built in the 17th century, with late Victorian additions. Hew Lorimer sold the castle and gardens the National Trust for Scotland in 1970. The main castle contents were given into the care of the Trust by the Secretary of State for Scotland. The castle and gardens are open to the public.

Lochore Castle near Cowdenbeath in Fife is a ruined medieval castle on the edge of Loch Ore, now within the Lochore Meadows Country Park, an area of restored former opencast coal mining land that has been transformed into a major recreational landscape offering watersports, walking, cycling and wildlife watching. The castle ruins survive as a modest but atmospheric fragment of medieval heritage within this post-industrial reclamation landscape. Lochore Meadows Country Park is one of the largest country parks in central Fife, popular with local communities and visitors from across the central belt of Scotland. The loch supports populations of wildfowl and provides sailing and windsurfing facilities, and the park's transformation from opencast mine to recreational landscape is one of the most successful post-industrial reclamation projects in Scotland.

Lordscairnie Castle near Cupar in Fife is a ruined fifteenth-century tower house set in the fertile agricultural landscape of central Fife, associated with the Lindsay family who were significant figures in the medieval politics of Fife and Scotland. The castle is now substantially reduced to its lower courses within farmland, but represents the rich tradition of late medieval castle building that characterises Fife and reflects the county's prosperity from its agricultural wealth and important seaport towns. Central Fife around Cupar contains numerous examples of medieval and early modern domestic architecture, from tower houses and fortified manors to the royal palace at Falkland nearby and the magnificent castle and cathedral ruins at St Andrews on the coast.

Myres Castle at Auchtermuchty in Fife is a sixteenth-century tower house of exceptional character, recently operated as a self-catering accommodation venue offering exclusive use of the complete historic castle. The castle was built for John Scrymgeour around 1530 and remains in excellent condition, its harled exterior with corner turrets and stepped gables characteristic of the finest Fife tower house tradition. Auchtermuchty is a small historic town in the Howe of Fife known as the boyhood home of Jimmy Shand, the accordionist and bandleader who popularised Scottish country dance music internationally in the twentieth century. The surrounding Howe of Fife landscape, enclosed by the Lomond Hills to the south and the Ochil Hills to the west, is a fertile and scenically attractive agricultural basin with the royal palace at Falkland nearby.

Newark Castle is a ruin located just outside the town of St Monans, on the east coast of Fife, Scotland. The castle has been known by several names including Inverie, St Monans and St Monance. Newark Castle was built in the 15th century, and extended in the 16th and 17th centuries. All that remains is the vaulted cellars, part of a tower block and a partially collapsed round tower. There are some remains of outer walls along the coast. The castle is referred to as Newark of St. Monans in 1545, when the castle was owned by Sir James Sandilands of Cruivie. In 1649, the castle was sold to David Leslie. Leslie was a prominent figure in the English and Scottish Civil Wars, becoming Lord Newark after the wars.The castle passed to the Anstruther family around 1740 and remained in the family until sold to the Baird family in the 19th century. By the 19th century, the castle was no longer used as a residence. The castle deteriorated and was used as farm storage. The Thompson family purchased the property from the Bairds.

Pittarthie Castle in Fife is a ruined seventeenth-century tower house in the East Neuk of Fife, the peninsula stretching into the North Sea that contains some of the most charming and historically distinctive small fishing towns in Scotland. The castle was associated with a local Fife family and its ruinous condition is typical of the fate of many smaller Scottish tower houses following the gradual shift in residential preferences toward more comfortable buildings from the eighteenth century onward. The East Neuk of Fife is celebrated for its picturesque fishing burghs of Crail, Anstruther, Pittenweem and St Monans, each with characteristic crow-stepped gabled architecture, harbours and an active fishing and tourism economy. The Scottish Fisheries Museum at Anstruther provides the most comprehensive interpretation of the East Neuk's maritime heritage.

Ravenscraig Castle stands on a rocky outcrop near the shore on the eastern outskirts of Kirkcaldy in Fife. The castle was built in the mid 15th century by James II. The castle has two large D-shaped towers linked by a range through which was the main entrance. A deep moat was cut into the rock of the headland for further defence. On the other side of the towers, the castle was built along a narrow headland which falls away to the sea on each side. Much of the two main towers and connecting range remains, but access is restricted. Not much of the other parts of castle on the headland remain, although there are enough stones remaining to see the outline of the buildings. There are remains of a defensive wall on the east side of Ravenscraig Castle projecting from the end of the nearby bay out below the high water mark. Ravenscraig Castle was damaged by Oliver Cromwell's forces in 1651. The castle was owned by the Sinclairs until 1898. During the First World War it was used as an ammunition store. It passed into state care in 1955. It is now maintained by Historic Scotland.

Rosyth Castle near Rosyth in Fife is a ruined fifteenth-century tower house on a rocky island in the Firth of Forth, associated with the Stewart family who held the lands of Rosyth throughout the later medieval period. The castle occupies a dramatically isolated position that was formerly entirely surrounded by water at high tide, giving it the character of a genuine island fortress. The surrounding area of Rosyth is dominated by the Royal Naval dockyard established at the beginning of the twentieth century, which transformed this corner of the Firth of Forth from a quiet agricultural landscape into one of Scotland's most important naval facilities. The Forth bridges visible from the area, including the iconic Victorian railway bridge, the road bridge and the newer Queensferry Crossing, represent one of the most impressive concentrations of bridge engineering in the world.