skip to main content
Menu
  • Blog
    • Art & design
    • Castles
    • Cycling
    • Edinburgh
    • Edinburgh Festival
    • Food & drink
    • General
    • History
    • Music
    • Sport
    • Walking
    • Whisky
    • Wildlife
  • Castles
    • Glossary
    • Mottes
    • Stay in a castle
    • Castle blog posts
    • Alphabetical list of castles
    • Castles divided by county
    • Photos of castles
    • Castles we've visited
  • History
    • Castles
    • Ancient history
      • barrows
      • brochs
      • cairns
      • caves
      • chambered cairns
      • cists
      • crannogs
      • cursus monuments
      • forts
      • henges
      • rock art
      • sacred sites
      • souterrains
      • standing stones
      • stone circles
    • Pictish history
      • Pictish stones
      • Pictish sites
      • Pictish placenames
    • Clans
      • Surnames
      • Trace your ancestors
      • Tartan
    • Trace your ancestors
  • Culture
    • Music
      • Bands & musicians
      • Music links
    • Film
    • Television
    • Placenames
      • Pictish placenames
  • Eat
  • Drink
    • Scottish beer
    • Scottish gin
    • Scottish vodka
  • Stay
  • Travel guide
    • City guides
    • Car hire
    • Airports
  • Walking
    • Munros
    • West Highland Way
  • Photos
  • Offers
  • Home
  • blog
Friendly and unfriendly castles in Fife

We partly retraced last week’s steps today, heading over into Fife in search of more castles.

Once again the sun was low in the sky and shining brightly, and when we arrived at Rosyth Castle the sun was directly behind it, making it difficult to photograph straight on.

The sun was the least of our worries however. As we were wandering around in front of the castle we noticed a sign saying “No Trespassing”, so being a law-abiding citizen I went to a nearby Portakabin at the entrance to the Port of Rosyth, and asked the lone security guard if it would be ok to take some pictures of the castle.

The answer was a resolute “No”, apparently due to “security reasons” connected with the port. I thought he was joking at first, but he was serious. This is the first time I’ve ever been refused permission to take photos of a castle. A castle which is right on the perimeter of the port site, with no high fences keeping out undesirables, and seemingly nothing of any interest or sensitivity anywhere nearby.

I’m sure Forth Ports will be delighted to know they have such dedicated staff protecting their top secret property. Staff who are so on the ball they didn’t notice us arrive, park the car, and walk around such a sensitive site taking photos for a good 5 minutes (before noticing the sign), and continued to be completely unaware of our presence until I knocked on his door.

So away we went, moving uphill slightly for a more distant view of the castle.

Although a ruin, Rosyth Castle is a substantial one, with the main 15th century tower still standing to its full height. There are plenty of architectural details to be seen too, including interesting window surrounds, presumably a later Renaissance addition, and space for armorial panels above a entrance into the courtyard.

The hill which was serving as our vantage point is home to the castle’s doocot. Also built in the 16th century, it has crow-stepped gables, a stone roof, a barrel-vaulted ceiling and an interesting snake motif carved over the entrance.

Interestingly Rosyth Castle used to be completely surrounded by water, standing on a rocky island in the Forth. It wasn’t until some time after the Admiralty bought the coastline here in 1903 and began a land reclamation project that the castle became landlocked. I have yet to ascertain whether the doocot was also on the island, or isolated from the castle on the shore.

From our slightly raised position there was a great view of the bridges, with the Forth Road Bridge in the foreground and the iconic red Forth Bridge behind it.

We continued north-west from here, deeper into Fife, and to the village of Crossford. On the edge of the village is Dunfermline Golf Club, whose clubhouse is the rather magnificent Pitfirrane Castle.

In stark contrast to our experience at Rosyth Castle, upon asking permission at the Club shop we were told to feel free to wander around taking photos.

Consisting of a 15th century tower which was extended upwards and outwards in 1583, the later main entrance was on the west side, next to which an old “yett”, or iron gate, has been mounted, thought to date from 1583.

Above the doorway is a carved coat of arms for the Halkett family, the former owners of Pitfirrane Castle, with the mottos “Fides sufficit” and “Honeste vivo” (Faith is sufficient, I live by my honour).

In the 19th century further additions were made to the castle, and in the 20th century a rather unsympathetic extension was built, now housing the clubhouse’s bar.

While it may not be in keeping with the rest of the castle’s style, the large windows on the bar give its occupants great views out over the golf course, with the added interest of a 16th century sundial in the foreground.

Above the bar’s roof, in the re-entrant angle between the old 15th century tower and the 16th century staircase wing (and presumably above the original 16th century entrance), are two further carved armorial panels.

The upper panel appears to be the arms of Scotland, while the lower combines the Halkett and Hepburn coats of arms, with the initials GH and IH, commemorating the marriage of George Halkett to Isabel Hepburn in 1576.

Looking at the east side of the castle reveals a mix of styles from various centuries, showing how the building developed over the years.

While on the north side, the low 19th century additions are clearly distinct from the main 15th and 16th century block to which they’re attached.

After a slightly disappointing start at Rosyth Castle, the day finished on a high note with the golden walls and warm welcome at Pitfirrane Castle.

Like this:

Like Loading...

Latest blog posts

The lost tower of Rakestonleis
23rd of July 2022 •
The three castles of Tolibothwell
7th of April 2020 •
Where to buy beer in Scotland during the Coronavirus lockdown
26th of March 2020 •
Cherry blossom in Edinburgh
23rd of April 2019 •
A dreich day of Dumfriesshire castles
13th of March 2019 •
Tweed Valley walks and Elibank Castle
30th of April 2018 •
Red squirrels at Eskrigg Reserve (and some castles)
6th of April 2018 •
Old and new Comiston Houses
29th of March 2016 •
Quintinshill rail disaster parade
23rd of May 2015 •
Cycling along Silverknowes Esplanade in Edinburgh
5th of April 2015 •
more blog posts....

Blog categories

art & design

15 posts

castles

88 posts

cycling

24 posts

Edinburgh

67 posts

Edinburgh Festival

7 posts

food & drink

4 posts

general

41 posts

history

143 posts

music

2 posts

sport

4 posts

walking

57 posts

whisky

1 posts

wildlife

41 posts

Follow us on bloglovin'

Stravaiging around Scotland Stravaiging around Scotland

Most popular posts

Yester Castle and the Goblin Ha’
19th of June 2011 •
West Highland Way 2006 – Day 1
16th of July 2006 •
Ancient sites on Lewis
15th of June 2006 •
Calton Hill and the Scottish National Portrait Gallery
19th of May 2013 •
Loch Turret and Ben Chonzie
21st of October 2006 •
Standing stones in Edinburgh
28th of August 2010 •
Doors Open Day Edinburgh 2012
24th of September 2012 •
Castles and Pictish stones in the north of Scotland
13th of April 2013 •
Hot air ballooning over Scotland
2nd of April 2009 •
Walking around Gosford House and gardens
20th of June 2014 •
more blog posts....

Blogroll

Ailish Sinclair

BikELove Scotland

Edinburgh Drift

From Hill to Sea

isleofronalog

Jardine's Book of Martyrs

Kelsey Jackson Williams

Marc Calhoun

Scotland with The Wee White Dug

Scottish Crannogs

Senchus

The Hazel Tree

The History Girls Frae Scotland

The Urban Prehistorian

Walkhighlands

  • advertisement
  • advertisement

Related pages

A trek to the top of Schiehallion
A trek to the top of Schiehallion
Walking in the woods above Pitlochry
Walking in the woods above Pitlochry
Stormy Portobello and birdlife on the River Tyne
Stormy Portobello and birdlife on the River Tyne
An underground adventure in southern Midlothian
An underground adventure in southern Midlothian
Baby squirrels at Callendar House
Baby squirrels at Callendar House
Exploring the Carmichael estate
Exploring the Carmichael estate
Published on the 22nd of January 2012 at 10:03 pm. Updated on the 28th of January 2014 at 10:06 am.

Leave a comment

back to the top of the page

Connect with us

Like us on Facebook

Receive our newsletter

Follow us on Twitter

Tweets by Stravaig_Aboot

Quick links

Stay in a Scottish castle
Edinburgh Festival accommodation
Hotels in Scotland
Car hire in Scotland
Places to eat and drink in Scotland
Castles in Scotland
Trace your Scottish ancestors
Scottish clans
Standing stones in Scotland
The Picts
Pictish symbol stones
Pictish placenames
Scottish bands and musicians
Scottish films
Scottish TV shows
West Highland Way

About

Andy Sweet above Fast Castle

Stravaiging around Scotland is written, photographed and researched by Andy Sweet.
read more....

Cookies

To make this site work properly we use cookies to store information on your computer. Click here to read more.

Affiliate links

This site includes affiliate links and adverts. If you click on these links we may receive a small commission at no cost to yourselves. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. This modest income goes towards funding the site.
© 2003 - 2025 Andy Sweet / Stravaiging around Scotland. Powered by WordPress. Hosted by Tsohost.
%d