Ravenscraig Castle is a ruined castle located in Kirkcaldy which dates from around 1460. The castle is an early example of artillery defence in Scotland.
Ravenscraig Castle is a ruined castle located in Kirkcaldy which dates from around 1460. The castle is an early example of artillery defence in Scotland.
The construction of Ravenscraig Castle by the mason Henry Merlion and the master carpenter Friar Andres Lesouris was ordered by King James II (reigned 1437–1460) as a home for his wife, Mary of Guelders. [1] [2] The castle is considered one of the first - perhaps the very first - in Scotland to be built to withstand cannon fire and provide for artillery defence. [2] The king was involved with the planning but, ironically, was killed in a tragic accident with a loaded cannon at the Siege of Roxburgh Castle near Floors Castle in the Scottish Borders. [3]
Construction was commenced around 1460 by his widow, Mary of Guelders, as a memorial to him and as a dower house. [4] She continued the construction work until her death in December 1463, when the east tower and the basement of the central section was probably built for her by the master mason Henry Merlioun. [5] The site was supervised by the master of works, David Boys. [6] Andrew Balfour, a servant of the royal wardrobe, organised the supply of timber joists in 1461, the timber was boated down the Allan Water and shipped to Fife from Stirling. [7] During this period her steward Henry Kinghorn and other members of the household were able to live in completed accommodation. [8]
Ownership passed to her son James III (reigned 1460–1488). In 1471 he gave the castle to William Sinclair, Earl of Orkney and Caithness in exchange for the Earldom of Orkney and associated lands which James annexed from Norway to the Scottish Crown. [9] The castle was completed by the Sinclairs, who also had an interest in artillery fortifications. [1]
James V and Mary of Guise came to Ravenscraig on 9 April 1540 on their way to Falkland Palace. They arrived in two galleys rowed from Kinghorn. [10] The Duke of Holstein came to the castle with William Schaw in 1598. [11]
During the 1650-51 invasion of Scotland by English forces under Oliver Cromwell, Ravenscraig was invaded, attacked and damaged. [12] [9] [13] The castle remained in the ownership of the Sinclairs, who built nearby Dysart House (1755-1756) on the estate, and later passed to the St Clair-Erskines, Earls of Rosslyn. The estate and castle remained in the family until sold in 1896, by the 5th Earl, to linoleum magnate Sir Michael Nairn who lived in Dysart House. [14]
The castle was used as an ammunition depot during the First World War. [12] In 1929, 85 acres (34 ha) of the estate, including the castle, was given to the town of Kirkcaldy by the Nairn family as a public park. [15] Ravenscraig Castle was passed into state care in 1955 and has been open to the public by the owners Historic Scotland since 1971. [13] [16] [12] It is now managed by Historic Environment Scotland, and is protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument. [17]
Celtic punk band The Real McKenzies filmed the video for their song Drink Some More at Ravenscraig Castle.
Ravenscraig is a small castle, built on a narrow rocky promontory in the Firth of Forth. It is naturally defended on three sides by steep cliffs dropping to the sea, and the main part of the castle forms the northern, landward, defence. This comprises two D-plan towers, with outer walls 4.25 metres (13.9 ft) thick, designed to withstand cannon fire. Battlements between the towers formed an artillery platform, with gun holes pointing to landward. The whole is defended by a deep, rock-cut ditch, and is accessed via a bridge.
The west tower stands to four storeys, and has a single small room on each floor. At the ground floor is a vaulted cellar, with a hall above, accessed via a stone forestair, or outside stairway. A spiral stair links the upper levels, although the timber floors are no longer present. Chimneys rise through the walls to form features of the castle's skyline. The east tower is of three storeys, although its base is set lower into the cliff. A well is located at the lowest level, with a single chamber on each level above, although again the timber floors are missing. The floors are linked by a straight stair within the thickness of the west wall. The rooms of both towers are windowless to landward, due to the thick walls, but have windows with stone seats to the other sides. [18]
The towers are linked by a central block, which contains the main gate and entrance passage. Vaulted cellars and a guard room lie to either side. These vaults support the artillery platform above. The gun holes are of the "inverted keyhole" type, which became common in the late 15th century. [5] Beyond the main block, only the foundations remain of the buildings on the promontory.
Ravenscraig is the setting for the ballad Rosabelle, sung by Lord St. Clair's bard, Harold, at the wedding feast in the sixth canto of Sir Walter Scott's Lay of the Last Minstrel. The ballad tells in elliptical style of 'the lovely Rosabelle', apparently a daughter of the St. Clair (or Sinclair) family, who insists despite dire warnings on setting out by boat from Ravenscraig (called 'Ravensheuch' by Scott) across the Firth of Forth, to attend a ball at the family seat, Roslin Castle, in Midlothian. Rosabelle knows that, as well as her parents, a certain 'Lord Lindesay's heir' will be present. However, that night an eerie light blazes on Roslin Castle and the nearby chapel where Rosabelle's ancestors lie buried, while Rosabelle herself lies drowned. [19]
Henry I Sinclair, Earl of Orkney, who built the first Rosslyn castle in the 11th century, was married to a Rosabel.
Fife is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire. By custom it is widely held to have been one of the major Pictish kingdoms, known as Fib, and is still commonly known as the Kingdom of Fife within Scotland. A person from Fife is known as a Fifer. In older documents the county was very occasionally known by the anglicisation Fifeshire.
The Firth of Forth is the estuary, or firth, of several Scottish rivers including the River Forth. It meets the North Sea with Fife to its north and Lothian to its south.
Kirkcaldy is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about 11+1⁄2 miles north of Edinburgh and 27+1⁄2 mi (44 km) south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, making it Fife's second-largest settlement and the 11th most populous settlement in Scotland.
Henry I Sinclair, Earl of Orkney, Lord of Roslin was a Scottish nobleman. Sinclair held the title Earl of Orkney and was Lord High Admiral of Scotland under the King of Scotland. He was sometimes identified by another spelling of his surname, St. Clair. He was the grandfather of William Sinclair, 1st Earl of Caithness, the builder of Rosslyn Chapel. He is best known today because of a modern legend that he took part in explorations of Greenland and North America almost 100 years before Christopher Columbus. William Thomson, in his book The New History of Orkney, wrote: "It has been Earl Henry's singular fate to enjoy an ever-expanding posthumous reputation which has very little to do with anything he achieved in his lifetime."
William Sinclair (1410–1480), 1st Earl of Caithness (1455–1476), last Earl (Jarl) of Orkney, 2nd Lord Sinclair and 11th Baron of Roslin was a Norwegian and Scottish nobleman and the builder of Rosslyn Chapel, in Midlothian.
Dysart is a town and former royal burgh located on the south-east coast between Kirkcaldy and West Wemyss in Fife, Scotland. Dysart was once part of a wider estate owned by the St Clair or Sinclair family. They were responsible for gaining burgh of barony status for the town towards the end of the 15th century.
Dysart Burghs was a district of burghs constituency of the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP).
Clan Sinclair is a Highland Scottish clan which holds the lands of Caithness, the Orkney Islands, and the Lothians. The chiefs of the clan were the Barons of Roslin and later the Earls of Orkney and Earls of Caithness.
Roslin Castle is a partially ruined castle near the village of Roslin in Midlothian, Scotland. It is located around 9 mi (14 km) south of Edinburgh, on the north bank of the North Esk, only a few hundred metres from the famous Rosslyn Chapel.
Pathhead is an area of Kirkcaldy, in Fife, Scotland. Pathhead was an independent village before it was incorporated into the Royal burgh of Kirkcaldy.
Baron of Roslin or Rosslyn was a Scottish feudal barony held by the St Clair or Sinclair family.
William St. Clair, 6th Baron of Roslin was a Scottish nobleman of the late 13th century.
William Sinclair of Newburgh, Aberdeenshire was a Scottish nobleman and the 3rd Lord Sinclair. In The Scots Peerage by James Balfour Paul he is designated as the 2nd Lord Sinclair, but historian Roland Saint-Clair designates him the 3rd Lord Sinclair in reference to his descent from his grandfather, Henry II Sinclair, Earl of Orkney, the first Lord Sinclair. Roland Saint-Clair references this to an Act of the Scottish Parliament in which William Sinclair's son, Henry Sinclair, 4th Lord Sinclair, was made Lord Sinclair based on his descent from his great-grandfather, Henry II Sinclair, Earl of Orkney, the first Lord Sinclair. Bernard Burke, in his a Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire, agrees with Roland Saint-Clair and says that Henry Sinclair was "in reality" the fourth holder of the title of Lord Sinclair.
Oliver St Clair was a Scottish noble and the 12th Baron of Roslin.
Henry Sinclair was a Scottish noble and the 4th Lord Sinclair. In The Scots Peerage by James Balfour Paul he is designated as the 3rd Lord Sinclair, but historian Roland Saint-Clair designates him the 4th Lord Sinclair and references this to an Act of the Scottish Parliament in which he was made Lord Sinclair based on his descent from his great-grandfather, Henry II Sinclair, Earl of Orkney, the first Lord Sinclair. Bernard Burke, in his a Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire, agrees with Roland Saint-Clair and says that Henry Sinclair was "in reality" the fourth holder of the title of Lord Sinclair.
William Sinclair was a Scottish nobleman and the 5th Lord Sinclair. In The Scots Peerage by James Balfour Paul he is designated as the 4th Lord Sinclair in descent starting from William Sinclair, 1st Earl of Caithness and 3rd Earl of Orkney, but historian Roland Saint-Clair designates him as the 5th Lord Sinclair in descent from the father of the 1st Earl of Caithness and 3rd Earl of Orkney, Henry II Sinclair, Earl of Orkney, who is the first person recorded as Lord Sinclair in public records. Roland Saint-Clair references this to an Act of the Scottish Parliament in which the 4th Lord Sinclair was made Lord Sinclair based on his descent from his great-grandfather, Henry II Sinclair, Earl of Orkney, the first Lord Sinclair. Bernard Burke, in his a Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire, agrees with Roland Saint-Clair and says that William Sinclair was "in reality" the fifth Lord Sinclair.
William St Clair was a Scottish nobleman and the 15th Baron of Roslin.
Henry Sinclair was a Scottish nobleman and the 6th Lord Sinclair. In The Scots Peerage by James Balfour Paul he is designated as the 5th Lord Sinclair in descent starting from William Sinclair, 1st Earl of Caithness and 3rd Earl of Orkney, but historian Roland Saint-Clair designates him as the 6th Lord Sinclair in descent from the father of the 1st Earl of Caithness and 3rd Earl of Orkney, Henry II Sinclair, Earl of Orkney, who is the first person recorded as Lord Sinclair in public records. Roland Saint-Clair references this to an Act of the Scottish Parliament in which the 4th Lord Sinclair was made Lord Sinclair based on his descent from his great-grandfather, Henry II Sinclair, Earl of Orkney, the first Lord Sinclair. Bernard Burke, in his a Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire, agrees with Roland Saint-Clair and says that Henry Sinclair's father, William Sinclair, was "in reality" the fifth Lord Sinclair.
John St Clair was a Scottish nobleman and the 17th Baron of Roslin.
