Kellie Castle
Kellie Castle is a castle or chateau at Arncroach , about five kilometers north of Pittenweem in East Neuk in Fife in Scotland .
history
Kellie is first mentioned around 1150 in a document relating to David I of Scotland . Robert of London is later named as the first owner, he is said to have been an illegitimate son of William I of Scotland . After 1266 the Siward family owned the property. A well-known member of the family was Walter Oliphant . The lower part of the north-west tower is the oldest part of the castle and dates from around 1360, a ghost is said to be circulating in this tower. The 4th Lord, Oliphant, had a new tower built in the east in 1573. Between 1573 and 1606 the two towers were connected by a longitudinal structure. It remained in the family until 1613 when it was owned by Thomas Erskine (he had the life of KönigJames VI. saved). The King visited Kellie in 1617 after the Union of the Crowns and in 1619 appointed Thomas Erskine Earl of Kellie . It is believed that the library in the east tower was decorated with stucco in the London style .
In 1878 the owner, Walter Erskine, Earl of Mar and Kellie (1839-1888) rented the long uninhabited property to the lawyer James Lorimer . The Lorimer family wanted to use it as a vacation spot and renovated it continuously so that it ultimately became the family seat. Robert Lorimer was largely responsible for a large part of the restoration work and the restoration of the stucco ceilings , the paintings and the furniture. His brother was the painter John Henry Lorimer . After his death in 1936 the lease was canceled. In 1936 his son, the sculptor Hew Lorimer and his wife Mary renewed the lease. Hew Lorimer and Mary bought the property in 1948 and they owned it until 1970 when it was sold to the National Trust for Scotland . Hew Lorimer lived in the east tower until 1990. The castle and gardens are now open to the public, and there is a permanent exhibition of Hew Lorimer's works in the studio in the former stables.
Legends
In addition to the apparition in the north-west tower, the 5th Earl of Kellie is said to have hid for a whole summer in a burned-out tree stump on the grounds of the castle after the Battle of Culloden in 1746.
Web links
- National Trust for Scotland, Kellie Castle & Gardens (Eng.)
- Kellie Castle on Rampant Scotland
- Kellie Castle on the gazeteer for Scotland
Coordinates: 56 ° 14 ′ 14 " N , 2 ° 46 ′ 33" W.