Lordscairnie Castle is a ruin situated near

Moonzie Moonzie is a small parish in Fife, Scotland, about 3 miles north-west of Cupar. It is bounded on the west by Creich, on the north by Kilmany, on the south-east by Cupar and on the south-west by Monimail.Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland, by Francis ...

, north-east of

Cupar Cupar ( ; gd, Cùbar) is a town, former royal burgh and parish in Fife, Scotland. It lies between Dundee and Glenrothes. According to a 2011 population estimate, Cupar had a population around 9,000, making it the ninth-largest settlement in Fif ...

, in

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

, Scotland. It is protected as a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

History

Cairnie was a property of the Lindsay family, later

Earls of Crawford Earl of Crawford is one of the most ancient extant titles in Great Britain, having been created in the Peerage of Scotland for Sir David Lindsay in 1398. It is the premier earldom recorded on the Union Roll. Early history Sir David Lindsay, who ...

, from 1355. The tower was constructed around 1500 by Alexander Lindsay of Auchtermoonzie (died 1517). The second son of the 4th earl of Crawford, Alexander subsequently became 7th earl, inheriting the earldom from his nephew who was killed at the

Battle of Flodden The Battle of Flodden, Flodden Field, or occasionally Branxton, (Brainston Moor) was a battle fought on 9 September 1513 during the War of the League of Cambrai between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, resulting in an English ...

in 1513. According to

John Knox John Knox ( gd, Iain Cnocc) (born – 24 November 1572) was a Scottish minister, Reformed theologian, and writer who was a leader of the country's Reformation. He was the founder of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. Born in Giffordgat ...

James V of Scotland James V (10 April 1512 – 14 December 1542) was List of Scottish monarchs, King of Scotland from 9 September 1513 until his death in 1542. He was crowned on 21 September 1513 at the age of seventeen months. James was the son of James IV of Sco ...

visited the castle just before his death in 1542, to visit the earl's daughter who was "one of his whores".

James VI James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

visited Ballenbreich on 18 June 1583 then went on to Lordscarnie.

James Stewart, Earl of Arran Captain James Stewart, Earl of Arran (died 1595) was created Earl of Arran by the young King James VI, who wrested the title from James Hamilton, 3rd Earl of Arran. He rose to become Lord Chancellor of Scotland and was eventually murdered in ...

stayed at "Carnye, the house of Crawford" in July 1583. The castle was unoccupied in the 17th century, and was used for religious meetings by an outlawed Episcopal congregation. It was later used for agricultural purposes.

Description

It was originally an L-plan

tower house A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strateg ...

with five storeys, including a barrel-vaulted basement and a garret. The stair tower is located on the north-west side, linking all floors from a ground floor entrance. The parapet and many of the dressed stones forming the window surrounds have been lost. To the north-east is a single round tower, once flanking a gate within an outer enclosure wall.

Potential restoration

In 1997 the castle was bought by an American entrepreneur, Robert Bourne, who planned to restore it as a second home and a retreat for software developers. From 1997 to 2003 he completed a program of historical research, geophysical and archaeological exploration of the site, detailed engineering and design surveys and other pre-planning consent work under the guidance of Historic Scotland; the castle was subsequently sold to a local hotelier. It was on the market again in 2012, with an asking price in the region of £220,000. It was estimated that at least £1 million would be needed to undertake restoration.

References

{{Commons category-inline Ruined castles in Fife Cupar Scheduled Ancient Monuments in Fife