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Pittarthie Castle

This castle is in the Fife Council and the Dunino Parish.
Scheduled Monument record on the Portal.
Listed Building record on the Portal.

Description

This castle stands on elevated ground within open fields. It is possible that some of the surrounding field walls perpetuate enclosures contemporary with the castle, and there are traces of gardens to its south.

The castle is set out to a staggered L-plan. The main block is aligned from east to west, with a large wing off the western end of the south face that projects well to the west of the main block. The principal stair is within the re-entrant angle between the main block and the wing, and there is a small service room on the north side of the wing.

There are three principal storeys, the lowest being barrel vaulted, and there was probably also a garret in the roof space. The kitchen was at ground-floor level of the wing, and a small stair connected that level with the first-floor service room behind the wing. A stair was corbelled out secondarily from the north side of the hall at first-floor level of the main block to give additional access to the second floor chambers. The house has retained a number of interesting details, including a water inlet and outlet, a variety of shot holes, a dated pediment, a decorated aumbry, traces of masonry-lined plaster work and a complete iron window grill.

History

The house is assumed to have been built in the later years of the sixteenth century by James Monypenny of Pitmelie, who held it from the Archbishop of St Andrews. The estates later passed through the Logan and Bruce families. Alterations of uncertain extent were carried out in 1682 for William Bruce, and a semi-circular pediment with his initials and that date were inserted in the south face of the main block.

Status

The castle is structurally largely complete, apart from the collapse of parts of the ground floor barrel-vaulting. There is evidence of some fragility along parts of the wall head.

Conservation Options

The sophisticated planning of Pittarthie, with its ample accommodation, large windows and thin-wall construction, would lend itself well to modern occupation, though its relative remoteness from public roads might be problematic.

Bibliography

J Gifford The Buildings of Scotland, Fife, London, 1988, p 346

New Statistical Account of Scotland, vol 9, Edinburgh, 1845, p 365
Royal Commission on the Ancient Monuments of Scotland, Inventory of Fife, Kinross and Clackmannan, Edinburgh, 1933, p 128-9

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