Scotland · Ruin
Macduff's Castle
MacDuff's Castle is a ruined medieval castle near East Wemyss in Fife, Scotland, associated with the MacDuff earls and later held by the Wemyss, Livingstone and Colville families. The surviving fabric records a 14th-century tower, a 16th-century tower and a 16th-century gatehouse range, with later 17th-century defensive walls. The site sits on a grassy cliff above exposed sandstone ledges on the Fife coast.
Its prime
1637
Today
Ruin
As it stood in 1637
What Macduff's Castle looked like in its prime.
A pair of rectangular stone tower blocks, one four storeys, one five storeys, linked by a lower gatehouse range and enclosing a small courtyard, all built of local reddish-brown sandstone. The group stands atop a grassy coastal bank above an exposed horizontal sandstone ledge at the shore, with surrounding low curtain walls of the period. At its prime the towers and gatehouse presented vertical facades of coursed stone with narrow window openings, forming a compact two-tower silhouette above the cliff.
Its story
The story of Macduff's Castle.
The MacDuff Mormaers and the Wemyss Family, 11th–14th Centuries
A castle is thought to have been built near East Wemyss in the 11th century, in the time of King Macbeth of Scotland (d. 1057), built by the MacDuff Mormaers — the Earls of Fife, the most powerful family in Fife in the Middle Ages. Nothing of that castle survives. The masonry that does is the work of the Wemyss family, descendants of the MacDuffs, who owned the property from the 14th century and built the earliest part of the present ruin, and of their successors in the 16th century.
Edward I's Visit and the Order to Destroy the Castle
Edward I of England paid a visit here in 1304, staying with Sir Michael Wemyss. Wemyss later joined forces with Robert the Bruce, and Edward ordered the castle to be destroyed.
Livingstones, Colvilles and the Wemyss Buy-Back, 1530–1651
After the Wemyss family moved to nearby Wemyss Castle the property passed to the Livingstones, and in 1530 it was taken over by the Colvilles, who built a second tower to the south-west and enclosed a courtyard with a gatehouse. In 1637 Sir John Wemyss of West Wemyss bought the castle back from Lord Colville of Culross, and in 1651 the lands of East and West Wemyss were united as a single barony.
Demolition, Erosion and Protection since 1967
The ruins formerly comprised a four-storey tower of the 14th century and a five-storey tower of the 16th, the two connected by a 16th-century gatehouse range with 17th-century walls containing gun loops. Fife County Council demolished the eastern tower in 1967, after a child was injured falling from it. A 16th-century dovecote that stood at the edge of the shore to the south was destroyed by sea erosion in the 1970s.
The castle carried a category B listing from 1972 until 2018 and is a scheduled monument. It remains the property of the Wemyss Estate.
The Grey Lady of MacDuff's Castle
Local ghostlore holds the castle to be haunted by a "Grey Lady", said to be a Mary Sibbald, who was found guilty of theft and died in the castle.
Step inside
7 places to explore in 1637.
The record describes 7 distinct spots at Macduff's Castle, including 1 interior: enclosed courtyard. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
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Clans who held Macduff's Castle.
The families that held Macduff's Castle for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
MacDuff
Traditionally the site of an 11th-century castle of the MacDuff Earls of Fife, the most powerful family in medieval Fife, though nothing survives from that period.
Wemyss
Owned by the Wemyss family, descendants of the MacDuffs, from the 14th century; bought back by Sir John Wemyss in 1637 and still part of the Wemyss Estate.
Livingstone
Held by the Livingstones after the Wemyss family moved to Wemyss Castle, until the Colvilles took over in 1530.
Colville
Held from 1530 by the Colvilles, who built the second tower and gatehouse range, until Lord Colville of Culross sold it back to the Wemyss in 1637.
Nearby
