Elcho Castle

Elcho Castle consists of an approximately Z-plan tower house with evidence of a surrounding wall, or barmkin. It is a multi-storeyed structure with a large square tower at one corner and three other integrated towers on the north side, built of stone rubble and dressed sandstone. Some windows have metal grilles for defence and seventeen gun loops are present at the lower levels. There is only a single entrance, at ground level in the south-west tower, protected by a yett — the iron grille gate used on Scottish tower houses.

A walkway runs along the top of the walls with a parapet, though this, like the corbelled turret at the south-eastern corner with its large windows, is thought to have been more for the inhabitants to view the surroundings than for defence. The walls would have been harled, but only small patches survive. The first floor, known as the noble floor, holds the main hall lit by south-facing windows and a great bedchamber that also served as a private reception room, with a small side room and en suite latrine. The ground floor, below stairs, was vaulted with a large kitchen, fireplace and cellars, and a long corridor connecting the lower rooms.

The upper floors were large for the time and included multiple smaller rooms with roof-top walkways, along with a guest wing having its own latrines — an unusual provision. A smaller staircase gave servants direct access to the floor above without using the main turnpike stair. The first reliable record of Elcho is from 1429, when Sir David Wemyss and Hugh Fraser made an agreement at Elthok. Blind Harry's poem The Wallace, written in the 1480s about events over 150 years earlier, refers to Elchoch, but Historic Environment Scotland does not consider it a reliable source.

In 1468 James III confirmed that ownership of the east Elcho lands passed to Sir David's son John Wemyss. Sir John assisted the nearby Elcho Nunnery some time after 1547 with barley and funding, and by 1560 all the lands of Elcho were in Wemyss hands. The present castle was built on the site of an older structure about that year. The main seat of Clan Wemyss was Wemyss Castle in Fife, Elcho being more of a country retreat. Sir David Wemyss, who took possession in 1571, was involved in planning the wedding of James VI and Anne of Denmark in 1589.

In 1628 a descendant, also called John, became the first Lord Wemyss of Elcho, and in 1633 Charles I made him Earl of Wemyss, Lord Elcho and Methil. Decorative plasterwork was added to the hall in celebration, and the letters E I W carved outside near the door are thought to stand for Earl James Wemyss. The castle saw no military action, but was nearly burned in 1773 when it was being used as a grain store during a famine. Grain was being held there for export to fetch higher prices, soldiers had to prevent a riot, and the grain was afterwards sold on the open market in Perth. The castle was abandoned after the incident.