Scheduled Monument
Piteadie CastleSM871
Status: Designated
Documents
Where documents include maps, the use of this data is subject to terms and conditions (https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/termsandconditions).
The legal document available for download below constitutes the formal designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The additional details provided on this page are provided for information purposes only and do not form part of the designation. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within this additional information.
Summary
- Date Added
- 30/12/1936
- Last Date Amended
- 27/09/2017
- Type
- Secular: castle
- Local Authority
- Fife
- Planning Authority
- Fife
- Parish
- Kinghorn
- NGR
- NT 25700 89100
- Coordinates
- 325700, 689100
Description
The monument is the remains of Piteadie Castle, a late medieval tower house. The castle survives as a rectangular tower with a later stair tower which projects from the northeast elevation. It is located on the south eastern flank of a low hill with wide southerly views over the Forth.
The tower consists of three storeys to wall head with an attic within the roof. The tower measures approximately 10.5m southwest-northeast by 8.5m transversely, the later projecting stair wing projects approximately a further 1.4m on the southeast half of the tower's north eastern elevation. The gable on the northeast side survives to its full height, as does the four-storey projecting stair wing.
The tower has at least two distinct phases of construction, the earliest dating to the late 15th to early 16th century. In this phase the tower was entered at first floor level as indicated by the blocked entrance. The survival of corbels below this entrance indicate that there would have been a timber fore-stair. In the late 16th/early 17th century a stair tower was added to access the main floors. Above this level, the stair tower is corbelled out and contains further rooms accessed by a circular stair. The windows in the southeast elevation were also enlarged at this time.
The scheduled area is irregular on plan to include the remains described above as shown in red on the accompanying map. It does not include the remains of the later building attached to the northeast elevation.
References
Bibliography
No Bibliography entries for this designation
About Scheduled Monuments
Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.
We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.
Scheduling is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for monuments and archaeological sites of national importance as set out in the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.
We schedule sites and monuments that are found to be of national importance using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)
Scheduled monument records provide an indication of the national importance of the
scheduled monument which has been identified by the description and map. The description and map (see ‘legal documents’ above) showing the scheduled area is the designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The statement of national importance and additional information provided are supplementary and provided for general information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within the statement of national importance or additional information. These records are not definitive historical or archaeological accounts or a complete description of the monument(s).
The format of scheduled monument records has changed over time. Earlier records will usually be brief. Some information will not have been recorded and the map will not be to current standards. Even if what is described and what is mapped has changed, the monument is still scheduled.
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Find out more about scheduling and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.