Ravenscraig Castle: ambitious new bid to restore Kirkcaldy’s 15th century landmark

But is Ravenscraig Castle an asset the Lang Toun has simply not used to its full potential? A new group believes so, and has launched a public meeting to begin a discussion on how Kirkcaldy could restore its very own fortress.

Guardians of Ravenscraig Castle Kirkcaldy wants to tell its fascinating story and return it to working use as a treasured community asset.

John Dennett, who runs Fife Forge in the High Street, and Kirkcaldy Civic Society have called a public meeting for Thursday, August 27 to discuss taking the first steps on what could be a significant project.

They are under no illusions about the scale of the task.

“This is a multi-million £ project” said George Proudfoot, chair of the society - and one that can only even get off the ground with community involvement.

John, who is originally from Wellington, New Zealand, has a keen interest in the history of Kirkcaldy, and has already created his own Lang Toun Little Museum at the back of his shop.

He said: “It is a beautiful landmark and such an important castle in Scottish history relative to others that have been restored and maintained. There is no reason why it should not happen here.

“Ravenscraig is a completely under used asset that could be an anchor for tourism and the town in so many ways. There are a whole lot of reasons to put it back on the map and turn it into a usable community asset.”

The castle was initially designed as a royal residence, purchased in 1460 by James II for his wife Queen Mary of Guelders. Their son gave the castle to William Sinclair, whose family transformed it into a well-defended fort to protect the Firth of Forth

It was perhaps the very first Scottish castle to be built to withstand cannon fire and provide for artillery defence, and its imposing stone walls run the length of the park. Its west tower is four storeys high, its east one three storeys.

The castle was handed into state care in 1955 and is managed by Historic Environment Scotland, with its gates re-opening to the public this year after a prolonged closure.

Access was restricted in November 2021 to allow high-level masonry inspections to take place. During this, unrelated conservation work was identified to repair or replace the wooden drawbridge that provides access to the castle.

The new guardians group has worked with David Torrance, MSP for Kirkcaldy, who has been their link to HES as it sets about taking its first early steps.

It plans to show a short presentation on Ravenscraig’s history and restoration plan at the meeting, with a gathering of The Friends of Ravenscraig Castle in the castle grounds to follow.

It may be bold in its scale, but John said: “To give an idea of what could be, as one example we can look at the successful Friends of Dundonald Castle group in Ayr.

“It owns and operates a successful visitor centre and museum whilst its focus is on preserving its beloved castle. It recently won the prestigious 'Celebrating Thriving Communities' prize at the National Scottish Thistle Awards and has built up annual visitor growth from 9000 to 25,000 in recent years.”

The guardians believe Kirkcaldy’s own fortress could learn from that experience, and add a new dimension to the town;s heritage offering.

“The information boards are fine, but we need to recapture the castle for Kirkcaldy,” said George. “We are well down the list of priorities at HES, and I understand that, so we want to move Ravenscraig up that agenda - and part of that is showing there is a clear community support and interest in using the castle more.

“This a community led initiative. It has to be. We can’t do it alone - and we don’t want to either. It has to be a collective effort from the community. Our aim is to set up a group of supporters from the ground up to see what is viable. We need expertise as well - we need the right people right the right skills and the right knowledge to get on board.”

“Kirkcaldy is strong on culture now, but we can do more, and that means taking in history and heritage.”

The aim of making more use of the castle isn’t new. It was the venue for the civic society’s annual BBQ for many years, with over 100 people attending each event - underlining the potential within a unique, historic setting.

The passage of time, and increased concern over safety, saw that access shrink to the point the event stopped, but could a re-imagined castle be brought into use once more? “T go to back to that time we’d need access to the full building,” said George. “We used to collect a big bunch of keys to get into every room the towers and vault. It was never fully safe let’s be honest, but we would have over 100 people there with some dressed up in historic garments - Medieval Methil came along for a performance - and it was a great atmosphere.

As the restrictions on access grew, we were left with a rump that we could use.” The campaign group hopes a new generation of locals will now get on board with the proposals.

“Fife has rich natural history - nothing showcases it quite like Ravenscraig,” said John.

Added George: “This could really benefit the park.

“Beveridge Park has had a development group for many years and the work done at Dunnikier has been seen it grow so much, but Ravenscraig has never been able to get the same group off the ground. The aim is to make the most of our parks.”

> For more information, visit the Facebook page, Guardians of Ravenscraig Castle, Kirkcaldy