Newark Castle, St Monans, United Kingdom

Newark Castle is a ruin located just west of St Monans, on the east coast of Fife. The building stands in a dramatic location, overlooking the North Sea. The upper storeys are ruinous, but vaulted cellars survive, hidden from view.

Building on the site probably dates back to the 13th century, at which time the Scottish king Alexander III (1241–1286) spent some of his childhood there.

The current building was begun in the 15th century by the Kinloch family. It then passed, through marriage, to the Sandilands of Cruivie, who sold it in 1649 David Leslie. Leslie was a prominent figure in the English and Scottish Civil Wars, becoming Lord Newark after the wars. Following Leslie's death in 1682, the castle passed to the Anstruther family, and finally to the Bairds of Elie.

The castle attracted the attention of Sir William Burrell, the Glasgow shipping magnate and collector of art and antiques, in the late 19th century when Sir Robert Lorimer produced a plan for its restoration. The scheme never went ahead as the owner of the site, a Mr Baird of Elie, refused to sell.

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

Shona Norman (2 years ago)
There are only ruins, which are fenced off, but you can see that this would have been a substantial castle with amazing views over the Firth of Forth. Off to the left of the castle is what I think might be a round Doocot. I love castles no matter what state they are in, so Newark Castle was lovely to see.

Paul Vine (2 years ago)
It's a nice enough ruin. In a bad state these days, you only have to look at the coastal erosion to see why. There is fencing around it to keep you away from venturing inside it but that fencing has also seen better days.

Richard Payne (2 years ago)
A great old ruin, sadly not in a great state on the coastal path. It was fenced off when we were there, but clearly been breached many times as there were gaps in the fencing and a lot of rubbish inside the site - a big shame. Lovely setting. Well worth a stop on the coastal walk.

Katarzyna Mikołajek (2 years ago)
It beautiful place with mystery atmosphere

Austin Yoder (2 years ago)
we could basically go anywhere we wanted on the castle, great town lovely view.

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