{{distinguish|Prestonfield House}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} thumb|right|Priestfield House
'''Priestfield House''' was a Victorian Country House near Cults, Fife, Scotland.
== History == The estate, originally an outlying property of Crawford Priory, was purchased from the Earl of Glasgow by a wealthy merchant, James Martin Esq. in 1889.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Walford|first1=Edward|title=County Families of the United Kingdom, Aristocracy of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland (Vol. 2)|date=1892|publisher=R. Hardwicke|location=London|page=698}}</ref> In 1892, he aggrandized the existing house by the addition of a substantial East Wing, comprising a first floor Billiards Room, a conical tower and a large Dining Room. In addition to this, the existing Service Wing was expanded to accommodate a larger domestic staff. The architect for the work was James Ross Gillespie of Gillespie & Scott of Queen Street, St Andrews.<ref>{{cite web|title=DSA Architect Biography Report: James Ross Gillespie|url=http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/architect_full.php?id=100030|website=Dictionary of Scottish Architects|accessdate=10 September 2016}}</ref> The same architect was responsible for the construction of the extensive Priestfield Maltings nearby.<ref>{{cite web|title=DSA Architect Biography Report: James Ross Gillespie|url=http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/architect_full.php?id=201278|website=Dictionary of Scottish Architects|accessdate=10 September 2016}}</ref>
The House was demolished in c.1968, owing partially to the decay of the East Wing. The Wash House, a fragment of the original service wing, survives.
thumb|right|South Elevation of the enlarged Priestfield House
== Family == James Martin (1841–1898), a merchant, bought the Priestfield Estate, initially comprising the farms of Priestfield, Pitlessie Mill and Brotus, as well as the superiority of the village of Pitlessie. Martin was an agriculturalist and industrialist, with extensive interests in malting, and the mining and burning of lime. At his death, his Cults lime works were said to be the largest of their kind in Scotland.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Death of a Well-Known Fife Farmer |journal=The Dundee Courier |date= 16 February 1898 |pages=5}}</ref> He died childless, and the estate passed to his niece, Mary Martin Smith Martin (1875–1909). The House was subsequently inherited by her brother, James Martin Smith JP, Laird of Priestfield (1876–1933), who assumed the additional surname of Martin. He married Marion Martin Smith (née Ainslie), of the families of Ainslie of Dolphinton and Hunter of Polmood.
==References== {{Reflist}}
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Category:Scottish country houses destroyed in the 20th century Category:Former country houses in Scotland Category:Country houses in Fife