Culross Palace facts for kids
Culross Palace is an amazing old house in Culross, Fife, Scotland. It was built a long time ago, between the late 1500s and early 1600s. Even though it's called a "palace," it was actually the home of a very successful merchant, not a king or queen!
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What is Culross Palace?
Culross Palace is a special type of house called a "Great Lodging." It was built by a rich businessman named Sir George Bruce. He was the Laird (or lord) of Carnock. The house was built in two main parts. The first part, the south block, was finished in 1597. The second part, the north building, was completed in 1611. That was the same year George Bruce was made a knight!
Sir George Bruce: A Smart Businessman
Sir George Bruce was a very successful merchant. He traded goods with many places. He sent ships to other ports along the Firth of Forth. He also traded with countries like the Low Countries (which are now Belgium and the Netherlands) and Sweden.
Bruce had many different businesses. He was involved in coal mining and making salt. He also owned ships. He even sent one of his skippers, William Stewart, all the way to Spain to buy wine! Sir George Bruce is famous for something very cool: he is believed to have dug the world's first coal mine that went under the sea.
Building the Palace: Materials from Far Away
Many of the materials used to build Culross Palace came from far-off lands. This shows how much Sir George Bruce traveled and traded! For example, the wood used was pine from the Baltic Sea region. The red roof tiles, called pantiles, and the floor tiles and glass came from the Netherlands.
The outside of the palace looks very interesting. It has special stepped gables, which are like stair-shaped parts at the top of the walls. There's even a statue of a woman on one of these gable steps.
Inside the Palace: Art and History
The inside of Culross Palace is just as amazing as the outside. It has beautiful rooms with decorative wall paintings. There are also special painted ceilings from the 1600s. You can see furniture from the 1600s and 1700s. The palace also has a great collection of Staffordshire and Scottish pottery.
Some very interesting marks, called 'Witch marks', can be seen above a fireplace. People in the past believed these marks would protect the house from witches coming down the chimney!
Royal Visit and Modern Care
Even though Culross Palace was never a home for kings or queens, King James VI (who was also King James I of England) visited it in 1617.
Today, the National Trust for Scotland takes care of the palace. They have worked hard to bring it back to how it looked in the 1600s.
The Palace Garden
The garden at Culross Palace is a wonderful example of a 17th-century garden. It has raised beds for plants. There's also a covered walkway and paths made of crushed shells. The National Trust for Scotland has planted herbs, vegetables, and fruit trees in the garden. These are all types of plants that would have been grown there in the early 1600s.
Restoring the Art
The beautiful old paintings inside the palace have been carefully restored. The first restoration happened in 1932. Then, in the 1990s, experts from Historic Environment Scotland worked on them again.
On the second floor of the south block, there's a ceiling painting with 16 special pictures called emblems. These pictures were inspired by a book from 1586 called A Choice of Emblemes by Geffrey Whitney. In the north block, you can still see parts of a painting that shows the story of the Judgement of Solomon. There are also many other original decorative paintings throughout the palace.
