Lochore Castle, once known as Inchgall Castle, meaning the ‘Island of Strangers’, was the island fortress of Adam de Vallance, Knight from the 13th century. As part of the Living Lomonds Project, Benarty Heritage Group and Fife Coast and Countryside Trust are working to conserve this local landmark and open it to the public.

And on Wednesday of next week the work will get underway to clear away the heavy vegetation surrounding the feature as the project gathers pace.

The Castle sits on the approach road to Lochore Meadows Country Park and the Heritage Group see it as something which is a key element of Benarty’s history.

The group will playing a major role in the plans to clean up the site of the Castle and create a visitor attraction which would compliment the country park’s facilities.

As the project develops there will be opportunities for people to become involved in the restoration and archaeology activities. You can follow the progress of this exciting project, as it develops, on the Lomond Hills project’s Facebook page.

Said Lomond Hills Project chairman, Amanda McFarlane, “Our goal is to make Lochore Castle safe and accessible, allowing its significance as a rare mediaeval building to be researched and explained, and its potential iconic status at Lochore Meadows to be realised.

“The Living Lomonds’ ‘Discover the Ancient Lomonds project’ aims to capture the history of human relationships with the landscape of the Living Lomonds area from the end of the Ice Age (10,000BC) to the 20th Century.

“The Lomond and Benarty Hills area is rich in archaeology, including remains of sites and finds from 12,000 years of human activity.

“Working with volunteers this project is designed to uncover and share the archaeology heritage of the area through themed archaeology events, talks, walks and activities, which are open to all and we want local people to get involved”.