Newark Castle, in the little town of St. Monance, consists of a few fragments of an early thick wall of enceinte, and a round tower and domestic apartments built at a much later date. It stands on a rocky cliff overlooking the Firth of Forth. It once belonged to the famous soldier, David Leslie, renowned in the civil wars of the seventeenth century, who built much of what now stands.

St. Monans in the East Neuk of Fife is well worth a visit to capture the atmosphere of an old, close knit, Fishing community. For centuries the people of St. Monans lived, worked, and worshipped by the sea. It was part of their life and a constant struggle just to survive. The old houses of St. Monans reflect this struggle as they fight for a precious foothold on the rocky shores around the harbor. Even the old Church to the west of the village stands defiant on the sea shore.

The village was originally called Inverin but eventually took its name from St. Monans who lived in a cave near the Old Church and may well have been killed by invading pirates. The present Church was built in 1362 to replace an earlier Chapel on this site. It was built on the instruction of David II for his gratitude in being rescued after his ship was wrecked in the Firth of Forth.

Additional Information:

Hi: Enjoyed your description of the delights of the East Neuk enormously. However, the castle of St Monance/Newark (merely being the term applied to an addition -- you find a number of them about Scotland and England -- at least five) was not built by David Leslie: it was there for centuries before his appearance. The Sandilands family had it between 1545 and 1649; the Thomas Scott/Agnes Moncreiffe before that. I'm still working on how it came into their hands. Alan Durward was there in the 13th century with an earlier version of the castle. He also built an earlier chapel to St Monan which was replaced/rebuilt by Dishington in the 14th century. Durward (Door Keeper, an inherited title/position, to the king) was son-in-law of Alexander II (wife, Marjory, was AII's illegitimate daughter)and Alexander III reputedly spent part of his childhood at Durward's castle, who was one of the regents during that unhappy period. Leslie did, however, add those bizarre Dutch gables to it. If you look up at the remaining gable, you can see the more traditional crow's step gabling that was there before his time. During the archaeological dig done in the Fall of 2002, evidence of a massive ditch, surrounding the castle was found, along with shot holes approximately 12 feet below the current ground level. Unfortunately, Historic Scotland insisted that the dig had be filled back in so that isn't currently evident. Hopefully, in the not-too-distant future, a restoration will take place.
Provied by Nola Crewe

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