Culcreuch Castle | |
---|---|
Fintry, Stirlingshire, Scotland NS6193287675 | |
Type | L-Plan tower house with a Jacobean range |
Site information | |
Owner | Hideaway Country Holidays Ltd. |
Open to the public | Yes |
Site history | |
Built | c. 1296 |
Built by | Maurice Galbraith |
In use | 16th century to 21st century |
Materials | Stone |
Designations | Category A [1] |
Culcreuch Castle is a Scottish castle close to the village of Fintry, near Loch Lomond. It had been the home of the Barons of Culcreuch since 1699. In the 1980s the castle was converted into a hotel, [2] which it was run as until early 2020 when it was closed to the public by the American owners thus ending over 700 years of history. It had been until January 2020 one of the longest continually inhabited Castles in Central Scotland.
Culcreuch Castle was built in 1296 by Maurice Galbraith. It was the clan seat of Clan Galbraith from 1320 to 1624, when it was sold to a cousin, Alexander Seton of Gargunnock, to settle a financial debt. In 1632, it was purchased by Robert Napier, a younger son of John Napier, the 8th Laird of Merchiston. The Napier family held the estate for five generations. The castle was used to garrison Oliver Cromwell’s troops in 1654. In 1796, the castle was sold to Alexander Spiers of Glasgow, who built a cotton mill and a distillery in Fintry. It was sold in 1890 to J. C. Dunwaters, then again in 1901 to Walter Menzies. It passed into the hands of Hercules Robinson in the 1970s, the last of that line of the Menzies family. It was sold in 1984 to Arthur Haslam, who operated the castle as a hotel. In 2007, ownership was transferred to a holding company in Los Angeles, who took the decision to close the castle and business in 2020 ending over 700 years of continuous habitation.
Culcreuch is a rectangular tower house, with three stories and an attic, topped by a parapet and slate roof. The north and east extensions to the original tower were built after 1721 by the Napiers, and match the original tower.
Castle Menzies in Scotland is the ancestral seat of the Clan Menzies and the Menzies Baronets. It is located a little to the west of the small village of Weem, near Aberfeldy in the Highlands of Perthshire, close to the former site of Weem Castle, destroyed c. 1502.
Duart Castle, or Caisteal Dhubhairt in Scottish Gaelic, is a castle on the Isle of Mull, beside the Sound of Mull off the west coast of Scotland, within the council area of Argyll and Bute. The castle dates back to the 13th century and is the seat of Clan MacLean. One source states that the castle was "brought back from ruin in 1911". The regimental colours of the WW1 Canadian Expeditionary Force 236th Battalion, CEF are laid up in the Great Hall.
Fintry is a small riverside village in Stirlingshire, central Scotland. It is located 16 miles (26 km) south-west of Stirling and around 19 miles (31 km) north of Glasgow.
Edinample Castle is a late 16th-century tower house on the southern shores of Loch Earn near Balquhidder in the Stirling council area of Scotland. It was designated as a Category A listed building in 1971.
Clan Menzies ; Scottish Gaelic: Clann Mèinnear; a member is a Mèinnearach) is a Highland Scottish clan.
Castle Chanonry of Ross, also known as Seaforth Castle, was located in the town of Fortrose, to the north-east of Inverness, on the peninsula known as the Black Isle, Highland, Scotland. Nothing now remains of the castle. The castle was also known as Canonry or Chanonrie of Ross, the former county.
Clan Napier is a Lowland Scottish clan.
Merchiston Tower, also known as Merchiston Castle, was probably built by Alexander Napier, the 2nd Laird of Merchiston around 1454. It serves as the seat for Clan Napier. It was the home of John Napier, the 8th Laird of Merchiston and the inventor of logarithms, who was born there in 1550.
Glen Lyon is a glen in the Perth and Kinross region of Scotland. It is the longest enclosed glen in Scotland and runs for 34 miles from Loch Lyon in the west to the village of Fortingall in the east.
Clan Guthrie is a Scottish clan.
Inverlochy Castle is a ruined, 13th-century castle near Inverlochy and Fort William, Highland, Scotland. The site of two battles, the castle remains largely unchanged since its construction. It is now in the care of Historic Environment Scotland.
Clan Kincaid is a Scottish clan.
Mains Castle is a 16th-century castle in Dundee, Scotland. The castle consists of several buildings surrounding a courtyard, although several of the original western buildings no longer exist. The northern and eastern buildings are where the family would have lived, with the servants occupying the southern quarters. The castle also has a large, six-floor, square tower house with dressed cornerstones, which is typical of 16th-century construction. It is a Category A listed building.
Teaninich Castle is situated north of the village of Evanton and just south of the town of Alness in Ross and Cromarty, Scotland.
Ardencaple Castle, also known as Ardincaple Castle, and sometimes referred to as Ardencaple Castle Light, is a listed building, situated about 1 statute mile (1.6 km) from Helensburgh, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. Today, all that remains of the castle is a tower, perched on the edge of a plateau, looking down on a flat tract of land between it and the shore of the Firth of Clyde. The original castle was thought to have been built sometime in the 12th century, and part of the remains of the original castle were said to have existed in the 19th century. Today, that sole remaining tower is used as a navigational aid for shipping on the Firth of Clyde. Because of its use as a lighthouse the tower has been called Ardencaple Castle Light.
Menstrie Castle is a three-storey manor house in the town of Menstrie, Clackmannanshire, near Stirling, central Scotland. From the early 17th century, it was home to Sir William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling, who was instrumental in founding the colony of Nova Scotia. It was later owned by the Holburn or Holborne family, who were created Baronets of Menstrie in 1706. The castle was restored in the 20th century, won a Civic Trust award, and now incorporates holiday accommodation, private flats and museum. The museum previously opened 2 daysa week by the National Trust for Scotland. is now open by request through the Menstrie Community Council.
Craignish Castle is located on the Craignish peninsula in Argyll, western Scotland and is a category B listed building. The present castle includes a 16th-century tower house, the seat of the Campbell family of Craignish and Jura. In the 19th century it was sold to the Trench-Gascoigne family of Parlington Hall, Yorkshire, who built a large extension to the tower. In the later 20th century the house was restored and parts of the 19th-century extension were demolished. The result of these extensions and styles from various centuries have made the castle a Scottish baronial masterpiece. It has previously been known as Loch Beag.
Note: Not to be confused with Moy Castle in Inverness on Loch Moy, the previous home of the Clan Mackintosh Chiefs.
Garth Castle is a 14th-century castle in the form of a tower house and keep, located close to Coshieville in Glen Lyon in the council area of Perth and Kinross. Although the castle has a long and storied existence, it is Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan, the Wolf of Badenoch who is most associated with it, having died there in 1396.
Sir Alexander Seton of Gargunnock and Culcreuch, Lord Kilcreuch was a 16th- and 17th-century Scottish judge and Senator of the College of Justice.