Pittencrieff House, Fife

Pittencrieff House originally dates to the fifteenth century, when it was built by the Wemyss family who then sold the estate in 1610. Its present incarnation is a seventeenth century house standing in a 76-acre public park. The present house was built using materials taken from the nearby royal palace at Dunfermline (standing adjacent to the abbey which is the burial place of Robert the Bruce) and was extended in 1740. In the parkland to the south of the house is a male yew in fine condition and popular with grey squirrels. Yews are found singly and in groves throughout the park and are mainly nineteenth and early twentieth century plantings, however this yew noticeably has the largest girth, and is thought to be around 300 years old.