Scotland · Ruin
Old Tulliallan Castle
Old Tulliallan Castle is the ruined medieval L‑plan fortress that stood on the Tulliallan estate near Kincardine, Fife (formerly Perthshire). The surviving fabric dates to medieval and late‑medieval rebuilding and was roofed and occupied until the late 18th century, after which a new house was built and the old castle allowed to decay into a ruin.
Its prime
1590
Today
Ruin
As it stood in 1590
The shape it held in its prime.
An L‑shaped, two‑storey ashlar sandstone house with a prominent southwest corner tower containing the main entrance; ground floor has small square windows, upper floors feature narrow slit windows. The building sits on a low grassy knoll surrounded by a D‑shaped water moat and outer earth rampart, with attached lower wings forming an inner courtyard. At prime the roofs and parapets are intact; important ground‑floor chambers show ribbed groined vaults springing from octagonal piers.
Its story
The story of Old Tulliallan Castle.
Tulliallan — Gaelic tulach-aluinn, "beautiful knoll" — was an estate near Kincardine whose old castle passed through several of Scotland's great houses. It was owned by William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas, and in 1402 Archibald Douglas, 4th Earl of Douglas, gifted the estate to the Edmiston family.
The Blackadder lairds of Tulliallan, a branch of the Blackadder Border clan, wielded considerable power in the 15th and 16th centuries — among them Robert Blackadder, brother of Patrick, Laird of Tulliallan, who renewed a dispute against the Homes over the family's lands around Allanton in Berwickshire. The old L-plan castle remained roofed and occupied until the late 18th century.
In 1700 the estate was purchased by Colonel John Erskine, son of David Erskine, 4th Lord Cardross, and in 1799 by George Elphinstone, 1st Viscount Keith, who built the modern Tulliallan Castle of 1818–20 about half a mile to the south-east as his family residence — now home of the Scottish Police College. The old castle was left to decay into the ruin that survives today.
Step inside
7 places to explore in 1590.
The record describes 7 distinct spots at Old Tulliallan Castle — including 2 interiors: southern posterns and the great hall apartment, vaulted ground‑floor chamber with octagonal pier. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and walk through every one — more scenes means more photos, more angles and more rooms of the immersive experience.
Create History
Recreate Old Tulliallan Castle with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1590 — a photoreal walk that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
Recreate Castle to Explore →Whose castle
Clans who held Old Tulliallan Castle.
The families that held Old Tulliallan Castle for a decade or more across its history — follow a name to its clan.
Owned by William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas; Archibald Douglas, 4th Earl, gifted the estate to the Edmistons in 1402.
Edmiston
Gifted the Tulliallan estate by Archibald Douglas, 4th Earl of Douglas, in 1402.
Blackadder
The Blackadder lairds of Tulliallan, a branch of the Border clan, wielded considerable power here in the 15th and 16th centuries.
The estate was purchased in 1700 by Colonel John Erskine, son of David Erskine, 4th Lord Cardross.
Elphinstone
George Elphinstone, 1st Viscount Keith, bought the estate in 1799 and built the modern castle as his family residence.
