Rossend Castle

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Rossend Castle
Painted ceiling from the country house in the Museum of Scotland

Rossend Castle is a country house in Burntisland , a small town on the south coast of the Scottish county of Fife .

history

A donjon called the Tower of Kingorne Wester had been there since 1119. Later this was called Burntisland Castle and from 1382 Abbot's Hall , as the abbot of Dunfermline lived there. Most of the current building dates from the 16th century, but the cellar was built as early as the 13th century; it contains high lancet windows and probably represents the remains of a chapel . Peter Durie of Durie had the castle rebuilt from 1552 and the coat of arms of Abbot George Durie and the year 1554 appear above the main entrance. Maria Stuart visited the castle during her brief personal reign 1561–1567. On February 14, 1562, the French ambassador and poet Chastelard was found hidden under Mary's bed. In 1651 the castle was taken by Oliver Cromwell's soldiers and at the end of the 17th century it belonged to the Wemyss family , who had the upper floor converted.

In 1765 the property belonged to Murdoch Campbell , a Highlander from Skye , who is believed to have given the building its current name.

In 1915, the historian Thomas Ross was arrested while investigating the country house for making drawings on a prohibited area. He was fined 5 shillings.

In 1952 the city administration bought the country house. In 1957 a painted wooden ceiling from the 17th century was discovered. It is now in the Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. The initials "SRM" for Sir Robert Melville of Morocairney and emblems copied from the Devises Heroïques by Claude Paradin can be found on the ceiling . The city council threatened to demolish the property, but after a decision by a commission of inquiry in 1972 it was saved. In 1975 it was bought by the architectural firm Robert Hard & Partners , who restored it and kept it as an office building.

Historic Scotland has listed Rossend Castle as a Category B Historic Building.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Listed Building - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
  2. ↑ Burntisland, Rossend Castle . In: Canmore . Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
  3. ^ Joseph Bain (editor): Calendar of State Papers Scotland . Volume 1 (1898). P. 684. No. 1170.
  4. ^ Michael Bath: Renaissance Decorative Painting in Scotland . NMS, 2003. pp. 258-260.

Web links

Commons : Rossend Castle  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 56 ° 3 ′ 26 "  N , 3 ° 14 ′ 28"  W.