Next on our Bucket List was a visit to Royal Burgh of Culross in Fife which is one of Scotland’s best preserved 17th Century villages.
We took a tour of the Palace which is managed by the National Trust for Scotland. We had a short filmshow first telling us about the history of the palace and its inhabitants and then got to walk around the rooms. Particularly interesting was the ceiling in the Painted Chamber which was very much like one at St Mary’s Church in Grandtully which we saw earlier in the week and it was a similar age. The garden which is a recreated 17th century hillside kitchen garden had tiered terraces, fruit trees and medicinal plants with crushed shell paths.
The Mercat Cross dates back to the 16th Century.
The Town House/Tolbooth was built in 1626. It was used as the courthouse and prison.
Bessie Bar Steps were named after Bessie Paterson who supplied malt for brewing beer when the local water safety was a concern.
The tall white building called The Study dates from 1610. It is said that Bishop Leighton composed his sermons here.
Culross is famous for its red pantile roofs which were originally brought over from the Low Countries as ballast in trading ships. Culross had coal and salt industries.
The National Trust for Scotland owns a large portion of the town including Culross Palace and nearly 50 residential ‘little houses’.
Culross reminded us of some of the villages we had seen in the Dordogne in France.
