What is recorded here

Kellie Castle stands in Fife, Scotland, where a prehistoric pit alignment still marks the ground beside the oldest surviving tower from around 1360. The Oliphants held it for centuries, building the east tower in 1573 and linking the towers into the T-plan shape that remains today. King James VI stayed there in 1617, and the ceiling in that east tower carries the date 1617 with the monogram of Thomas Erskine, who became Earl of Kellie two years later. The castle passed through the Erskine line, was emptied at a public auction in 1830, and lay abandoned until James Lorimer rented it in 1878.

Scotland's National Record of the Historic Environment records Kellie Castle as Pit Alignment (prehistoric), Unenclosed Settlement (period Unassigned)(possible). 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.

Kellie Castle is a prehistoric pit alignment and possible unenclosed settlement in Orkney, Scotland, dating to the Neolithic or Bronze Age. It is important as an example of early settlement patterns and communal activity in the Orkney Islands.

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