Ballinbreich Castle ruins beside the Tay

A beautiful, sunny winter's day.

Once again the weather was beautiful with strong, low sun so we decided to drive over to Newburgh in Fife for lunch. (Is that all you do, I hear some ask?) The views of the north side of the Tay were breathtaking as we drove along. We stopped at Balmerino Abbey as well as various stops to take photos across the Tay and as far as the snow capped hills of the Angus Hills (yes, again!). We stopped to take a photo of the ruins of an old castle. Later, after a bit of searching on Google I discovered it was Ballinbreich Castle. 

The ruins stand on private property but it was originally owned by the  ancient Abernathy family before it passed by marriage to the Earls of Rothes. The Earls of Rothes took from it the title Baron Ballinbreich. Ballinbreich is a Celtic word which comes from of Balan-breac, meaning "town of trout". This is of course a reference to the abundant salmon to be found in the waters there.

The Castle, popularly known as Bambreich, was a magnificent structure in its day. It was three to four stories high and had a Great Hall that was 46 feet long and 17 feet wide. Sadly, the Barony of Ballinbreich was sold by John 10th Earl of Rothes to Sir Lawrence Dundas for just £20,000. Sir Lawrence Dundas promptly recovered the amount he had paid by cutting down and selling the trees in Ballinbreich. The Barony of Ballinbreich was later sold to finance the reconstruction of Leslie House that had been burnt down in 1763. It is difficult to assess which loss was greater to the family, the loss of the original Leslie House with its contents or the selling of Ballinbreich Castle.

After lunch, we carried on over the Tay and back towards Dundee. We stopped at Kinfauns Castle (owned by Ann Gloag, owner of Stagecoach) and Kinfauns Church. By this time, with the sun setting, there was a great view over to the south side of the river.

A truly wonderful day and a delight to drive along both sides of the Silvery Tay.

If you would like to see some of the other photos from the day, have a look on my Flikr set.