Fife and Scotland - the offbeat perspective

Locked away on the quiet A912 road between Gateside in north-west Fife and Aberargie in southern Perthshire is a remarkeably well preserved castle that we couldn't quite include in the Fife section as it lies just outside the Fife regional area but it seemed worth mentioning as visitors to Fife and Fifers might want to see it.

The property is held by the Earl of Mansfield and is in the care of Historic Scotland. The structure, like most castles, lies atop a small hill above a small car park and beside a toll booth but it seems the toll booth is often unmanned. From there, it is a short but fairly steep walk up towards the building and thus requiring some degree of fitness.

The castle is small when compared to many others and is built in an L-plan fashion with the entrance at the base of the stair tower. On our visit, the car park booth was empty and the front door was locked even though it was in mid-summer. What information we got came from plaquards telling us that there was a cobelled parapet at the top with a two-storey, crow-stepped gabled watchroom.

The tower has three stories plus an attic and was built in the late fifteenth century by Sir Andrew Murray.