Description
The tower house was built as the principal residence of the Halyburtons of Pitcur. It is a complex building that has not yet been analysed in detail. In its final form it is of basically L-shaped plan, with a main block aligned approximately from east to west, and a wing projecting from the eastern end of its north face. There is a circular stair tower within the re-entrant angle of the two parts which is clearly a relatively late addition, both on the basis of its architectural detailing, and of the way that it is simply butted up against earlier features, though it is no longer clear what provision there was for access between the floors before it was built. It is also possible that the wing was itself an addition to the original tower, though it clearly pre-dates the stair.
The main block was ultimately of three storeys, with two barrel vaulted compartments at ground floor level, a barrel vaulted hall at first floor level, and an upper chamber floor, which would have been subdivided by a timber partition on the basis of the pair of adjacent latrine closets in the south wall. Evidence of a roof raggle and of crowsteps (the latter probably modern) in the northern half of the east gable, together with a slight change in masonry below second-floor level on the south face, could suggest that initially the main block was a two storey hall house rather than a tower house. On the basis of blocked inverted keyhole gun loops in the south wall, the main block of the castle may have been first built in the later fifteenth century.
The wing, which is slightly inset from the east wall of the main block, rises through four storeys, with a barrel-vaulted kitchen at the lowest level and timber floors above. If the second floor of the main block is an addition, the wing could have been added at the same time as the main block was heightened, and there is slight evidence for the corbelling of wall-head turrets at the south-east corner of the main block and north-east corner of the wing. The tower is now entered through a handsome round-arched doorway which, rather unusually, is located in the outer face of the wing. The mouldings of that doorway suggest a sixteenth-century date, and it may be that it replaced an earlier doorway that faced into the re-entrant angle before the stair was added.
History
Pitcur passed through marriage into the possession of the Halyburton family in 1432, and remains part of the Hallyburton estate, where it is adjacent to the house of Pitcur Farm. Very little is recorded of its history.
Status
The wall heads of the tower have been levelled off and capped by stone slabs, probably in the later 19th century. Perhaps at the same time the basement vaults of the main block were secured and the inner wall of the kitchen fireplace flue supported by an arch. Otherwise the interior of the tower has lost most of its internal subdivisions, and, since the upper parts are no longer readily accessible, there are a number of uncertainties about both the plan and architectural details. Nevertheless, below the wall head the shell of the tower is relatively complete, albeit with some areas at risk from masonry movement and penetration by vegetation.
Conservation Options
In a case like that of Pitcur, the main questions likely to arise in any proposal for restoration are the form of the original wall-head and roof, and the inter-relationship of planning between the main body and the wing. Pitcur also exemplifies a relatively common circumstance for tower houses in the way that it is located within a working farm; indeed, in many cases the modern farm is the successor of the ancillary buildings that would have been associated with the tower house throughout its history.
Bibliography
John Gifford, The Buildings of Scotland, Perth and Kinross, New Haven and London, 2007, pp. 666-67.
Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, South-east Perth, an archaeological landscape, Edinburgh, 1994, p. 139.
Nigel Tranter, The fortified house in Scotland, vol. 4, rev. ed., 1962, pp. 142-43.