Balgonie Castle

Balgonie Castle
Milton of Balgonie, Fife, Scotland GB grid reference NO313007
Balgonie Castle seen from the south west, with the original tower house on the left
Balgonie Castle
Coordinates	56°11′38″N 3°06′33″W / 56.1938°N 3.1092°W / 56.1938; -3.1092Coordinates: 56°11′38″N 3°06′33″W / 56.1938°N 3.1092°W / 56.1938; -3.1092
Site information
Owner	Raymond Stanley Morris, Laird of Balgonie and Eddergoll. and Stuart Morris of Balgonie and Eddergoll, yr.
Site history
Built	1360s with later additions
Built by	Sibbald family Sir Robert Lundie Sir Alexander Leslie

Balgonie Castle is located on the south bank of the River Leven near Milton of Balgonie, 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) east of Glenrothes, Fife, Scotland. The keep dates from the 14th century, and the remaining structures were added piecemeal until the 18th century. The keep has been recently restored, although other parts of the castle are roofless ruins. Balgonie is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

The lands of Balgonie were held by the Sibbalds from at least 1246. Probably in the 1360s, the Sibbalds built a barmkin, or fortified courtyard, with a tower house at the north-west corner. The lands and the castle were left to a daughter, who married Sir Robert Lundie, who extended the castle in 1496, following his appointment as Lord High Treasurer of Scotland. Sir Robert built a two-storey range of buildings to the east of the keep, enlarging the accommodation with a long hall and a solar. This range incorporated an earlier corner tower and the 14th-century chapel. King James IV visited Balgonie on 20 August 1496, and gave 18 shillings to the masons as a gift.

In 1627 the castle was sold to the Boswells, who sold it on in 1635 to Sir Alexander Leslie, a Scottish soldier who had fought for the Swedish army during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), rising to the rank of Field Marshal, and who led the Covenanters during the Scottish Bishops Wars. Leslie was created Lord Balgonie and Earl of Leven in 1641, and finally retired in 1654. He carried out further improvement of his home, adding a two-storey building at the south-east corner of the courtyard.