Pitcairn House
| Pitcairn House | |
| Fife | |
|---|---|
 Pitcairn House | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | NO27080283 |
| Location: | 56°12’45"N, 3°10’38"W |
| History | |
| Country house | |
| Information | |
| Condition: | Ruins |
Pitcairn House is a ruined 17th century laird's house, located in the modern Collydean residential area of Glenrothes, in Fife.
A modern legend claims that Pitcairn House was built by the Picts, a people whose culture had disappeared several centuries before the house was built, though their language provides the 'pit-' prefix; it means a portion of land or farm, to which is added the Gaelic cairn.
The noble family named for the area - the (de) Pitcairnes, recorded as far back as Henry de Pitcairn in 1426 - built the house around 1650. The family produced several eminent figures, chief among them Archibald Pitcairne (1652-1713), physician, religious playwright, and occasional correspondent of Isaac Newton, who owned the house in the early 1700s.[1] By 1793, statistical accounts of the region describe the house as a ruin.[2]
The ruins are approximately 50 feet by 18 feet, with the east gable rising to 20 feet. The rest of the building has collapsed to the foundations. It is thought that the building was up to three storeys high.
The site was excavated by archaeologists in 1980, and subsequently designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument. A number of finds are now in the Kirkcaldy Museum. A steading and cottages were once associated with the house, although these were demolished when the housing estate was built.
Outside links
References
- ↑ Reid, 2004, pp. 6–41.
- ↑ Pitcairn House - scheduled monument detail (Historic Environment Scotland)
- Reid, Emma (2004). Old Glenrothes- Old buildings, farms and villages in the area which became the New Town of Glenrothes (1st ed.). Cupar: Fife Family History Society.