Lordscairnie Castle, Cupar, United Kingdom

Cairnie was a property of the Lindsay family, later Earls of Crawford, from 1355. The tower was constructed around 1500 by Alexander Lindsay of Auchtermoonzie (d.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 in 1513. According to John Knox, James V of Scotland visited the castle just before his death in 1542. It was unoccupied in the 17th century, and was used for religious meetings by an outlawed Episcopal congregation. It was later used for agricultural purposes.

It was originally an L-plan tower house 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.

References:

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Castles and fortifications in United Kingdom

User Reviews

Reid Wegrecki (3 years ago)
This castle is technically on private property, so you have to hop the fence to see it up close. If you enter the property, do so quietly and respectfully. Do not disturb the building; some stones were loose on the ground meaning they fell somewhat recently. Very cool to walk around the perimeter, but probably not wise to try going inside. There's so much vegetation and risk for ticks or other critters causing you problems.

Tamrabam FPV (4 years ago)
It's in someone's back garden so pretty inaccessible

Sue Ruddick (4 years ago)
Nice ruin easy acess

darren m (4 years ago)
A lovely ruined castle set in a field. Originally had a moat around it and was four storey high. Very limited parking but the castle is very scenic

RIKKI_VET_ORDER (4 years ago)
Colonised it

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