Kellie Castle

Kellie Castle Details

Kellie Castle, a multiphase C14-C17 castle of the Oliphants later occupied by the Erskines. National Trust for Scotland.

  • Closest To: Pittenweem, Anstruther
  • Access: Chargeable Public Access
  • Grid Reference: NO520052

Kellie Castle is a large T-plan tower house, situated on a south facing slope overlooking the East Neuk of Fife. It overlooks a small burn to the west, but is not strongly situated with the hillside rising behind it and providing ample opportunity to bombard the site. It was built in two phases, the first between 1566 and 1573, and the second between 1592 and 1602.

Kellie was held by the Seward family in the 13th century, but was resigned to the Oliphants in 1360 by the heiress Lady of Kellie, and remained in their possession until 1613. It is likely that towards the end of the 15th century, Walter’s descendants erected what is clearly the oldest (and undated) part of the castle, the rectangular tower-keep at the north-west corner, with walls perhaps 1.5 metres thick. This would have been associated with a walled courtyard, now lost, which possibly extended to the east and south of the tower. Some of the lower portions of the castle walls appear to be contemporary with the tower. To the south of the old tower, and extending to the east, is a long vaulted hall block, with two rectangular turrets projecting from the north side containing stairs, and a further square tower, similar in size to the old tower-keep is attached to the south-western corner, creating the T-plan.

The south-western tower bears the date 1573 high up, suggesting that the lower parts are indeed part of the old courtyard wall, and it contains the main entrance and stairs to the first floor. A short passage leads to a large vaulted cellar and from that to the old tower, and to the east are a short corridor across the width of the hall-block, and beyond it the kitchen. The short corridor also accesses one of the northern turrets, containing a staircase. Beyond the kitchen is another cross-corridor leading to the other northern stair turret, and a rectangular room at a slight angle to the rest of the castle. It is believed that the second phase if building, recorded with a 1606 datestone, relates to decorative works like the dormers and round turrets at the roofline.

The sale of the castle in 1613 by the 5th Lord Oliphant meant that it passed to the Erskine family, later Earls of Kellie, who were both Royalists and Jacobites, but the castle seems to have avoided trouble even so. The Erskines occupied the castle until 1829, at which point it lay empty for fifty years. In 1878 it was rented out and restored, and in 1948 was purchased from the Earls by the tenants, the Lorimer family. In 1970 it was sold to the National Trust for Scotland but remained the home of the Lorimers until 1990. The castle remains the property of the Trust, and is open to the public.

Official National Trust for Scotland page

HES Canmore database entry

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