What is recorded here

Elcho Castle and Rosyth were not castle walls at all but a single ship wrecked in the Upper Firth of Forth before 1921. They became a marked obstruction, a dark snag in working water where crews had to read the sea and avoid what the vessel had lost. The name still sounds grand, but the facts point to a marine disaster reduced to a hazard.

Scotland's National Record of the Historic Environment records Elcho Castle: Rosyth, Upper Firth of Forth as Obstruction (20th Century)-(1921), Steamship (20th Century)-(1921). The official map says its point is accurate as follows: NGR given to the nearest 1m. The record does not by itself mean that the public may enter the place.

Elcho Castle, located near Rosyth on the Upper Firth of Forth, was a 16th-century tower house built by the Elphinstone family, a prominent Scottish noble lineage. It is remembered for its historical association with the region's maritime and military history, and for later being demolished in the early 20th century, with remnants repurposed as a breakwater in Rosyth Harbour.

The historic-place record does not grant public access. Check current conditions and ownership before entering land or a building.