| Ballinbreich Castle | |
| Map Type: | Scotland Fife |
| Map Relief: | yes |
| Coordinates: | 56.3712°N -3.1802°W |
| Built: | 14th-16th century |
| Builder: | Clan Leslie |
| Condition: | Ruined |
Ballinbreich Castle is a ruined tower house castle in Fife, Scotland.
The castle was built in the 14th century by Clan Leslie, and subsequently rebuilt several times. There may have been an outer curtain-wall though this no longer survives. Much of the present structure is of 16th-century date. It is a three-storey L-plan castle and overlooks the Firth of Tay.[1] Ballinbreich is a scheduled monument. It was a home of the Leslie family, Earl of Rothes.
Early maps of the castle by Timothy Pont and John Adair at the National Library of Scotland show the castle within a curving wall or earth bank. From the air, two curving enclosures can be seen, the crop mark remains of ditches. The inner area was probably the 16th-century garden, and rectilinear crop marks within the larger enclosure may have been later garden features.[2]
Mary, Queen of Scots stayed at the castle on 23 March 1563 and 26 January 1565.[3] Regent Morton made a progress in September 1575. He came to Ballinbreich from Tullibardine and went on to Huntingtower Castle to the christening of James Ruthven, 2nd Earl of Gowrie.[4] James VI stopped at Ballinbreich on 28 June 1583 (18 June O.S.) shortly after escaping captivity at Falkland Palace then went on to Lordscarnie, belonging to Sir Robert Melville.[5]