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Kirkton House
House (16th Century)
Site Name Kirkton House
Classification House (16th Century)
Alternative Name(s) Balledmond
Canmore ID 33122
Site Number NO42NW 19
NGR NO 44620 26012
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/33122
- Council Fife
- Parish Forgan
- Former Region Fife
- Former District North East Fife
- Former County Fife
NO42NW 19.00 44620 26012
NO42NW 19.01 44610 26058 Dovecot
(NO 4462 2602) Kirkton House (NR) (In Ruins)
OS 6" map (1919)
"Kirkton House...Nothing remains except the north wall with part of the return walls, all thickly covered with ivy. The house which dates from the 16th century, has been three-storeyed and oblong on plan, lying east and west, and having a circular tower, containing chambers, projecting from the north west angle, behind it has been a courtyard, entered through a semi-circular archway which is still to be seen on the north. The entrance to the house is centred in the north wall...The lintel of the hall fireplace has been removed and rebuilt into the gable of the barn of the adjacent farm at Kirkton Barns." It bears the initials of David Balfour (Laing Charters, No.1278) and Catherine Crichton, his wife, with the date 1585.
North of the house lies an oblong, rubble-built single-chambered dovecot, measuring 18ft by 15ft. The stone nests are complete but the roof is ruinous.
RCAHMS 1933
Kirkton, formerly called Balledmond, belonged to the Balfours, John Balfour of Balledmond is a witness to a charter in 1525.
D MacGibbon and T Ross 1892
The remains of Kirkton House consist of the north and east walls intact, parts of the west and south walls, and a round tower at the NW angle. The N wall is 22m long, the east 8m the S 2m, and the W 4m. The tower is 3m in internal diameter. The walls of rubble masonry are c.10m high and 0.7m thick, and are ivy covered. The roof and nests of the dovecot have been removed and the building is in a ruinous condition.
Visited by OS (DS) 22 October 1956
The remains of Kirkton House are as previously described, except that the N and E walls have collapsed into the interior.
Visited by OS (WDJ) 2 June 1964
Field Visit (26 May 1927)
Kirkton House.
This is a ruin standing within 90 yards of the old church of Forgan. Nothing remains except the north wall with part of the return walls, all thickly covered with ivy. The house, which dates from the 16th century, has been three-storeyed and oblong on plan, lying east and west and having a circular tower, containing chambers, projecting from the north-west angle; behind it has been a courtyard, entered through a semi-circular archway, which is still to be seen on the north. The entrance to the house is centred in the north wall. The only surviving features of interest are a few fireplace-surrounds - some not earlier than the 18th century - and a gunloop set in the western re-entrant angle-beside the tower. The lintel of the hall fireplace has been removed and rebuilt into the gable of the barn of the adjacent farm at Kirkton Barns. It is 9 feet 5 inches in length and is moulded with a filleted angle-roll. In the centre is a panel containing a shield flanked by the initials D.B., for David Balfour (1), and C.C., for his wife Catherine Crichton, with the date 1585. The shield is parted per pale: dexter, on a chevron an otter's head erased and in base a cinquefoil, for Balfour; sinister, a lion rampant, for Crichton.
RCAHMS 1933, visited 26 May 1927.
(1) Laing Charters, No. 1278: Charter by David Balfour of Balledmouth, "dated at Kirktoun, 20th May 1594."
