Rires Castle

NO40SE 3 4640 0468.

(NO 46400468) Rires Castle (NAT) (site of)

OS 6" map, Fife, 2nd ed., (1920).

Rires Castle, situated on a low eminence, and intended, it would appear, for a place of defence, is surrounded by a ditch 70 feet wide.

OSA (Rev A Small) 1793.

The walls of Rires Castle were removed about 1840. It was 'an oblong square built of rough unhewn stones with walls about 7ft in thickness.

Name Book 1878.

The old Castle of Rires stood about a mile north-west of Balcarres House, and was built by Sir John de Wemyss at the close of the 14th century to replace an earlier structure. Every trace of it has disappeared.

A H Millar 1895.

There is no trace of the castle. The surrounding ditch is quite distinct for most of its course despite being much spread by ploughing, and is 0.6m deep on the north side.

Ditch surveyed at 1/2500.

Visited by OS (EGC) 5 August 1968.

No traces of castle or ditch can now be seen on the ground.

Visited by OS (DAC) April 1990.

The low swelling of the ploughed-down earthworks of this castle have been recorded on an oblique aerial photograph (RCAHMSAP 2005).

Information from RCAHMS (DCC) 27 October 2005

No evidence of building visible above ground