2020

NO3421 : Mountquhanie Castle

taken 3 years ago, near to Hazelton Walls, Fife, Scotland

This is 1 of 4 images, with title Mountquhanie Castle in this square
Mountquhanie Castle
Mountquhanie Castle
The below information about this ruin is from Canmore:

Mountquhanie Castle.

Mountquhanie Castle is an ivy-clad ruin standing beside the home farm, 4 ½ miles north-north-west of Cupar. It has been an oblong tower of the 16th century*, measuring externally 43 ½ feet by 26 feet, and has had three storeys beneath the wall-head. The lowest storey is vaulted. The masonry is whin rubble with freestone dressings. The windows are unusually small, and one on the first floor, looking southward, has a broad chamfered margin and has been heightened. At each of the angles there is a turret supported on a corbel of four members. The parapet has only a slight projection over the wall face and is borne on small corbels, each of two members. The tower has been considerably altered, but full examination is at present impossible owing to the growth of ivy, which threatens the stability of the walls. West of the tower there has been a small courtyard open to the north. The western buildings are two-storey and have, at the south-west angle, a circular tower, the upper part of which is used as a dovecot. Although the southern buildings have been removed, the entrance remains, and its lintel is inscribed HIC…PONS ESTO I.C M.L 1682, which presumably records the date of the extension. The first pair of initials are for James Crawford, for whom see HISTORICAL NOTE. The entrance to the castle has been from the north, where part of a transe, dated 1683, is incorporated in the farm buildings.

HISTORICAL NOTE. George Balfour was in “Munquhane” in 1459. In 1493 these Balfour lands were erected into a free barony in favour of Michael Balfour. A charter of 1547/8 specifies “the tower, fortalice, and manor-house”. The Balfours continued till the beginning of the 17th century, but in 1668 James Lumsden of Montquhanny was returned heir in these lands to his father General-Major Robert Lumsden of Montquhanny. Towards the close of the century the lands came into possession of James Crawford

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Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright Becky Williamson and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Geographical Context: Historic sites and artefacts Primary Subject: Castle other tags: Castle (Ruin) Fife Click a tag, to view other nearby images.
This photo is linked from: Automatic Clusters: · Mountquhanie [7] · Mountquhanie Castle [5] Title Clusters: · Mountquhanie Castle [4] ·
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Grid Square
NO3421, 10 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
Becky Williamson   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Tuesday, 22 December, 2020   (more nearby)
Submitted
Tuesday, 5 January, 2021
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! NO 3473 2124 [10m precision]
WGS84: 56:22.7355N 3:3.5092W
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! NO 3482 2128
View Direction
West-southwest (about 247 degrees)
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Image Type (about): geograph 
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