Pitfirrane

A tall yellow 16th. C. L-plan tower house, which represents a notable landmark within the surrounding countryside, Pitfirrane now forms the club-house for Dunfermline Golf Club. Located on the southwest edge of Crossford in W Fife, 2 miles (3 km) west southwest of Dunfermline, the house was built as a simple three-storey oblong tower c.1500 for the Halkett family and greatly extended in 1583, with an additional storey, a new south wing and corbelled-out turrets. It was extended once again c.1680 and a three-bay porch and a low servant's wing were added in 1854 by David Bryce (1803-76). The 17th century wing was demolished in 1975 and an incongruous flat-roofed single storey block added to serve the needs of the golf club, which acquired the property from the Halketts in 1952.

Beside the 19th-century hood-mounted west door is an iron yett which dates from c.1583. The ground floor is vaulted, while there is a fine dining room on the first floor which once would have been the hall. This features mid-18th century plasterwork, fine chimney-pieces which date from the 1880s and remarkable wood panelling installed around the same time but in the 16th century style, although some might be original. Late 17th-century painted plasterwork was found in three rooms in the upper storey during repair work to the roof but it has been covered for protection. There are also early 17th-century Flemish stained glass windows decorated with cherubs, other figures and the Halkett coat of arms.

Now Category-A listed, the property benefits from harling over which an ochre-coloured limewash has been applied. The surrounding parkland has been landscaped to form a golf course, and the entrance to the estate is marked by late Georgian rusticated gatepiers.

The Pitfirrane Goblet is an ornate piece of 16th C. glassware which was said to have been used in 1603 by King James VI before he left Dunfermline Palace to travel to London to be crowned James I of England. Thought to have been made in Amsterdam by migrant Venetian glass-makers, it was bequeathed to the National Museums of Scotland by Miss Madeline Halkett in 1951.


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