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A ruined 14c keep and courtyard. The oldest part is a gate-tower at one end of the main block. The keep was enclosed by a curtain wall with ranges of buildings, none of which remain. An outer courtyard with towers was added. We missed most of the lower parts of the castle -- we didn't know it was down there by the beach.

There may have been a castle here for the Macduff Thanes or Earls of Fife in the 11th century. The existing castle was built by the Wemyss family in the 14th century, then it belonged to the Livingstones, who in 1530 exchanged it for other lands with the Colvilles of Ochiltree. In 1630, it returned to the Wemyss, but was unused, although apparently kept in good repair, for in 1666, the Countess of Sutherland stayed here with her her children during a plague in Edinburgh. The tower is cracking precariously, and to keep it from collapsing entirely, the upper parts of the keep were dismantled in 1967. The rubble buries quite a lot of the vaulted basements.

The castle is reputed to be haunted by the ghost of a woman, a "Grey Lady", who walks the grounds at night. She is said to be the ghost of Mary Sibbald, who was found guilty of thievery and died from the resultant punishment.

More pictures
of MacDuff Tower
l o c a t i o n
East Wemyss
Fife
North of East Wemyss
South of A955
on the shore
o t h e r   l i n k s