place

Hallyards Castle

Buildings and structures demolished in 1847Country houses in FifeDemolished buildings and structures in ScotlandHunting lodges in ScotlandRuined castles in Fife
Halyards Palace
Halyards Palace

Hallyards Castle (Scots: Hall yairds "the yards at the hall"), located to the north-west of the village of Auchtertool, is reputed to have been a hunting seat of Malcolm Canmore. With the establishment of the Roman Church, Halyards became the local residence of the Bishops of Dunkeld; it remained so until the first lay proprietor took possession in 1539. The influence that Halyards had on the district cannot be overstated. When Sir James Kirkcaldy was proprietor the castle witnessed dramatic events; according to John Knox it was visited by James V just before his death, and the murder of Cardinal Beaton was possibly discussed within its walls. During the Reformation Crisis there was fighting between French troops and the Scottish Lords of the Congregation at Halyards. William Kirkcaldy fought for the reformers. According to Knox, after French troops blew up the house, Mary of Guise declared, "Where is now John Knox's God? My God is now stronger than his, yea, even in Fife". In February 1560 it was reported the castle was 'clean overthrown'. Kirkcaldy took his revenge on a Savoyard captain called Sebastian and his 50 French troops.After the baptism of Prince James at Stirling Castle in December 1566, James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray took the English ambassador the Earl of Bedford on a tour of Fife. They visited Hallyards.In later years Halyards passed to John Boswell of Balmuto, William Forbes of Craigievar, members of the Skene family then the Earls of Moray. The castle’s name was changed to Camilla, popularly held to be in honour of a countess who bore that name, though no so-named Countess of Moray is recorded. Camilla is the name more commonly known in Auchtertool today. With the Earls of Moray living at a distance, Halyards eventually fell into disuse. In 1819 the castle was revisited by a member of the Skene family, who found it in a dilapidated state. The great house was largely demolished in 1847. The remains can be found on farmland to the north-west of the village. Another Hallyards Castle, near Kirkliston in West Lothian, was the focus of a feud which resulted in the shooting of John Graham, Lord Hallyards in February 1593.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Hallyards Castle (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 56.108611111111 ° E -3.2691666666667 °
placeShow on map

Address

Hallyards Castle

B925
KY2 5UE
Scotland, United Kingdom
mapOpen on Google Maps

linkWikiData (Q5643791)
linkOpenStreetMap (5930301505)

Halyards Palace
Halyards Palace
Share experience

Nearby Places

Raith, Fife
Raith, Fife

Raith (Scottish Gaelic: ràth, "fort" or "fortified residence"), as an area of Fife, once stretched from the lands of Little Raith (earlier Wester Raith), south of Loch Gelly, as far as Kirkcaldy and the Battle of Raith was once theorised to have been fought here in 596 AD. Raith Hill, west of Auchtertool and immediately to the east of the Mossmorran fractionation plant, may also be in reference to this wider area or may refer to an actual fort on this hill, distinct to the one naming the area.The name is found in Kirkcaldy's professional football team, Raith Rovers. This name was earlier borne by an entirely distinct team, probably named for the Little Raith colliery, east of Cowdenbeath, which merged with Cowdenbeath Rangers to form Cowdenbeath F. C.Raith House and the 19th-century folly Raith Tower sit on Cormie Hill to the west of Kirkcaldy. The former was designed by James Smith in the Palladian style in the 1690s, remodelled and extended by James Playfair in the 1780s and the library and garden remodelled in 1899 by Robert Lorimer. To the southeast, the artificial Raith Lake was formed by the damming of the Dronachy Burn in 1811 and 1812. From the late nineteenth century onwards, tracts of land of the Raith Estate were sold off and developed for housing and to form the town's Beveridge Park, expanding Kirkcaldy westwards. The modern housing estate bearing the Raith name dates from the latter part of the 20th century, long after the origins of the football team.