21/10/2026
Rosyth Castle
If ever there was an example of an ancient structure looking out of place, this is it.
Rosyth Castle’s original tower was built around 1450 by Sir David Stewart—who had been granted the Barony of Rosyth in 1428—as a secure residence. Standing 58 feet high with 10-foot-thick walls, the late 15th-century L-plan tower was heavily extended over the following 200 years. Originally, it was situated on a small island or rocky outcrop on the foreshore of St. Margaret's Hope in the Firth of Forth, accessible via a causeway from the North shore only when the tide was low. It stood as one of a multitude of defences along the Forth, with its tower and fortalice marked on Blaeu’s map of Fife and mentioned in a ratification of 1587.
The property remained with the Stewarts of Rosyth from then until the late 17th century. The castle saw its share of turbulent history: Robert Stewart of Rosyth supported Mary, Queen of Scots, and local legend suggests the Queen herself may have visited the castle in May 1568 after escaping Lochleven Castle. Following her defeat at the Battle of Langside, the Stewarts supported the Regency, making the castle a target. In 1572, it was attacked by men from Blackness Castle on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth during ongoing civil conflicts.
Later, Harry Stewart of Rosyth had a ratification in 1592 mentioning the tower and fortalice, and James Stewart was imprisoned in 1647 for being a Royalist. The castle was subsequently sacked and occupied by Oliver Cromwell’s army in 1651 following the Battle of Inverkeithing, and is also historically claimed to have been the birthplace of Cromwell’s mother.
Unlike many other castles littering the shores of the River Forth, Rosyth is often perceived as rather short on widely known stories, whether historically significant or local legends. By the late 17th century, the male line of the Stewarts failed, and the property was sold to David Drummond of Invermay, eventually passing through the Earl of Rosebery to the Earl of Hopetoun. From the 18th century onward, it remained unoccupied, leading to periods where large parts of the stonework were re-used elsewhere and the courtyard buildings were almost razed to the ground, leaving only the tower and north courtyard wall significantly above ground-floor level.
In 1903, the castle became the property of the Admiralty as the nearby Rosyth Naval Dockyard started to rapidly expand. Massive land reclamation projects brought the site well inland, causing the ancient structure to lose its waterfront position and become marooned within the dockyard. This meant it was lost to the general public for decades behind high fences and tight security; by the 1980s, many local residents didn’t even know the castle existed.
Today, the fences are gone, and this ancient structure stands within an island once more—not surrounded by water, but surrounded by a busy industrial estate and looking rather out of place.
