Scottish Castles Association

Standing dramatically on a high ridge, Fa'side Castle consists of an L-plan towerhouse and incorporates a plain 15th century keep of four storeys. It was later extended by a block with turrets, dormer windows and decorated mouldings. The entrance to the older part leads to the vaulted basement and to a straight stair, in the thickness of the wall leading to the first floor. A turnpike stair in another corner climbs to the upper floors.

The property was held by an Alexander de Such, but he was forfeited by Robert the Bruce and it passed to the Setons of Falside. The tower was torched by the English before the Battle of Pinkie in 1547, suffocating and killing all those inside. In 1631 it was sold to an Edinburgh merchant burgess, named Hamilton. Fa'side was restored from ruin in the 1970s.

Wording taken from The Castles of Scotland Third Edition by Martin Coventry