Earlshall Castle is a restored 16th century courtyard castle, near Leuchars Station about east of

Leuchars Leuchars (pronounced or ; "rushes") is a town and parish near the north-east coast of Fife in Scotland. The civil parish has a population of 5,754 (in 2011) Census of Scotland 2011, Table KS101SC – Usually Resident Population, publ. by Nati ...

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

.Coventry, Martin (2001). ''The Castles of Scotland''. Musselburgh: Goblinshead. p. 164 Lindsay, Maurice (1986) ''The Castles of Scotland''. Constable. p. 219-221 It has been described as “a perfect example of a 16/17th century mansion”.

History

The castle was built by Sir William Bruce, a survivor of the Battle of Flodden, in 1546. One member of the family died at the

battle of Worcester The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 in and around the city of Worcester, England and was the last major battle of the 1642 to 1651 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A Parliamentarian army of around 28,000 under Oliver Cromwell def ...

in 1651. Another, Sir Andrew, gained himself the name “Bloody Bruce” by hacking off the hands and head of Covenanter Richard Cameron after defeating him at the battle of Airds Moss during the Killing Time. The Bruce line was extinct by 1708. Henderson of Fordell inherited the castle and kept it until 1824. Due to lack of maintenance, the structure became derelict. In 1890, the property was purchased by Robert Mackenzie, a

bleach Bleach is the generic name for any chemical product that is used industrially or domestically to remove color from (i.e. to whiten) fabric or fiber (in a process called bleaching) or to disinfect after cleaning. It often refers specifically t ...

er from

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, who hired Sir Robert Lorimer to complete a restoration in 1892. The property has passed through several hands since, and is still occupied. The tapestries, paintings and Lorimer furniture have been dispersed.

Structure

There is a main block of three storeys and a garret. There is a large tower at one corner, with a small stair-turret in the angle with the main block. On the other corner a round stair tower is

corbel In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal keyed into and projecting from a wall to carry a wikt:superincumbent, bearing weight, a type of bracket (architecture), bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in t ...

led out to square; at the top is a watch-chamber. The dormer

pediments Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In ancient ...

are decorated by carved heraldic devices, and inscribed with the initials W.B. and S.A.C. The vaulted basement is reached through the entrance in the stair-tower. On the first floor is the hall, which has panelled walls, and a large carved fireplace, wide. The second floor ceiling is decorated in tempera; this dates from 1620. The decoration includes paintings of an ostrich and an

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, and mottoes such as “A NICE WYF AND A BACK DOORE OFT MAKETH A RICH MAN POORE”. The ceiling was carefully taken down and the missing parts replaced during the restoration by Lorimer. The main block, with a slightly higher wing, occupies two sides of the courtyard; there is a separate tower with three storey, the lower two vaulted, and some buildings dated to the 17th century. The courtyard is entered through an archway, dated 1546, bearing the arms of Sir William Bruce. There is a formal garden, replanted since the restoration of 1892. It has yew hedges and topiary. The castle is a category A listed building. In August 2020 the castle was for sale. Reports indicated that there were 10 bedrooms and 8 reception rooms" and features such as "royal coats of arms decorating a vaulted ceiling and an arched gatehouse ... wooden panelling and period fireplaces". As of March 2025 the property is still for sale, at an asking price of €8,000,000.https://search.savills.com/com/en/property-detail/gbedrseds150173 Real estate listing for Earlshall on Savill's site

References

{{commons category Listed castles in Scotland Castles in Fife Category A listed buildings in Fife