Mearns Castle is a 15th-century tower house in Newton Mearns, East Renfrewshire, south of Glasgow, Scotland. [1] It is a Category A listed building. [2] The castle has been restored and is now part of the Maxwell Mearns Castle Church. It also gives its name to nearby Mearns Castle High School.
The castle was built by Herbert, Lord Maxwell, under a royal warrant issued in 1449, and remained with the family until James VI required the fifth Lord to deliver it up to the crown. It was sold to Sir George Maxwell of Nether Mearns in the mid-17th century, and later passed to the Shaw-Stewart family. In 1971 the tower's remaining storeys were converted to a link between two Church of Scotland buildings. [1]
The castle was originally a four-storey rectangular tower measuring 30 by 40 feet (9.1 by 12.2 m) with walls 10 feet (3.0 m) thick; parts of the original corbelling remain. Its lower walls are rubble masonry up to a height of about 10 feet, the upper walls are constructed from well-cut ashlar blocks, demonstrating that the tower was probably built on the foundations of an earlier building. The arched main entrance on the first storey was reached by a ladder, but is now walled up. [3]
Only faint traces of the castle's outerworks can be located. A barmkin followed the edges of the rocky knoll on which the building stands and the sloping ground on the southeast has been cut away to form a bank approximately 10 feet high, over which a causeway led to the tower's gatehouse. [3]
There is a vaulted basement room, approached from the main entrance. The first-floor hall, which is also vaulted, is approached by a straight mural stair; it has stone window seats and once had a minstrels’ gallery. [1]
Dunnottar Castle is a ruined medieval fortress located upon a rocky headland on the north-eastern coast of Scotland, about 2 miles south of Stonehaven. The surviving buildings are largely of the 15th and 16th centuries, but the site is believed to have been fortified in the Early Middle Ages. Dunnottar has played a prominent role in the history of Scotland through to the 18th-century Jacobite risings because of its strategic location and defensive strength.
Crookston Castle is a ruined medieval castle in the Pollok area of Glasgow, Scotland. It is located some 5 miles (8 km) south-west of the city centre, on a hill overlooking the Levern Water, just before its confluence with the White Cart Water. Crookston Castle was built by the Stewarts of Darnley around 1400, and is set within earthworks constructed in the 12th century. Once the property of the earls and dukes of Lennox, the castle was extensively repaired following a siege in 1544, and it is the only surviving medieval castle in Glasgow.
Craigmillar Castle is a ruined medieval castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is three miles (4.8 km) south-east of the city centre, on a low hill to the south of the modern suburb of Craigmillar. The Preston family of Craigmillar, the local feudal barons, began building the castle in the late 14th century and building works continued through the 15th and 16th centuries. In 1660, the castle was sold to Sir John Gilmour, Lord President of the Court of Session, who breathed new life into the ageing castle. The Gilmours left Craigmillar in the 18th century for a more modern residence, nearby Inch House, and the castle fell into ruin. It is now in the care of Historic Environment Scotland as a scheduled monument, and is open to the public.
Edzell Castle is a ruined 16th-century castle, with an early-17th-century walled garden. It is located close to Edzell, and is around 5 miles (8 km) north of Brechin, in Angus, Scotland. Edzell Castle was begun around 1520 by David Lindsay, 9th Earl of Crawford, and expanded by his son, Sir David Lindsay, Lord Edzell, who also laid out the garden in 1604. The castle saw little military action, and was, in its design, construction and use, more of a country house than a defensive structure. It was briefly occupied by English troops during Oliver Cromwell's invasion of Scotland in 1651. In 1715 it was sold by the Lindsay family, and eventually came into the ownership of the Earl of Dalhousie. It was given into state care in the 1930s, and is now a visitor attraction run by Historic Environment Scotland. The castle consists of the original tower house and building ranges around a courtyard. The adjacent Renaissance walled garden, incorporating intricate relief carvings, is unique in Scotland. It was replanted in the 1930s, and is considered to have links to esoteric traditions, including Rosicrucianism and Freemasonry.
Closeburn Castle is a tower house, probably of the 14th century, but possibly older, and is one of the oldest continually inhabited houses in Scotland. The castle is located 1 km east of the village of Closeburn, in the historical county of Dumfriesshire, 2 km south-east of Thornhill, in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.
Comlongon Castle is a tower house dating from the later 15th century or early 16th century. It is located 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) west of the village of Clarencefield, and 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) south-east of Dumfries, in south west Scotland. The original tower has been extended by the addition of a baronial style mansion, completed around 1900. Originally built by the Murrays of Cockpool, it remained in the Murray family until 1984. It was subsequently restored, having been vacant for some time, and the castle and mansion are now a hotel. As of 15 April 2019, the business side of Comlongon Castle has gone into Administration, consequently all weddings due and accommodation booked for after this date were cancelled, leaving the future of the castle uncertain.
Carsluith Castle is a ruined tower house, dating largely to the 16th century. It is located beside Wigtown Bay in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire in Galloway, Scotland, around 4.8 kilometres (3.0 mi) south east of Creetown.
Amisfield Tower is a well-preserved tower house near Tinwald, about 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Dumfries, in Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland. The castle has also been known as Hempisfield Tower. It is a Category A listed building.
Barholm Castle is a tower house located 5 miles (8.0 km) south-west of Gatehouse of Fleet, in Kirkcudbrightshire, Galloway, Scotland. The tower dates back to the late 15th century, and it was a stronghold of a branch of the MacCulloch family. The present form of the castle dates from rebuilding in the 16th or 17th century, and in the early 2000s it was restored from a roofless state to residential use. The tower is sometimes identified with the fictional Ellangowan, in Sir Walter Scott's Guy Mannering.
Aberdour Castle is in the village of Easter Aberdour, Fife, Scotland. Parts of the castle date from around 1200, making Aberdour one of the two oldest datable standing castles in Scotland, along with Castle Sween in Argyll, which was built at around the same time.
Ballencrieff Castle, also known as Ballencrieff House, is a large tower house at Ballencrieff, East Lothian, Scotland. It is located three miles north west of Haddington, and one mile south of Aberlady.
Bavelaw Castle is a historic house in the City of Edinburgh Council area, Scotland. It is north of Hare Hill in the Pentland Hills, four miles west of Penicuik, and two miles south of Balerno, above Threipmuir Reservoir. It was designated as a Category A listed building in 1971.
Craigcrook Castle is a well-preserved 6,701 square feet (622.5 m2) castle giving its name to the Craigcrook district of Edinburgh, about 3 miles (4.8 km) west of the centre of Edinburgh, Scotland. The castle is primarily of the 17th century, though with later additions. In the 19th century, it was the home of Francis Jeffrey, Lord Jeffrey, and became known for its literary gatherings. It is a category B listed building.
Sorn Castle is located by the River Ayr just outside the village of Sorn in East Ayrshire, Scotland. The castle comprises a medieval tower house, which was extended over the years, and remodelled in the Scots Baronial style by David Bryce in the 1860s. The castle is protected as a category A listed building.
Mauchline Castle, also known as Abbot Hunter's Tower, is a rectangular tower house dating from the fifteenth century, in Mauchline, East Ayrshire, Scotland. The tower once formed part of a group of monastic buildings associated with Melrose Abbey, and today is a category A listed building.
Castlehill Tower, also known as Castle Hill of Manor, is a ruined oblong tower house dating from the end of the 15th century, situated in the parish of Manor, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from Kirkton Manor, Scottish Borders, Scotland.
Invermark Castle is an oblong tower house dating from the 16th century, at the east of Loch Lee, Angus, Scotland. It is near the head of Glen Esk.
Bridge Castle is an L-plan castle, dating from the 16th century, standing on a rocky site 3 miles (4.8 km) north west of Bathgate in West Lothian, Scotland, on the west of the Barbauchlaw Burn. The former name of the castle was Little Brighouse.
Dalcross Castle is a restored 17th century tower house, about 1+1⁄2 miles southwest of Croy, Highland, Scotland, and about 7 miles northeast of Inverness. The castle stands on a ridge.
Hills Tower is a sixteenth-century square tower house, with an adjoining eighteenth-century wing, near Dumfries in Scotland. Originally built around 1527 for Edward Maxwell, who had purchased the estate from James Douglas of Drumlanrig, it was improved in the later sixteenth century by his grandson, also Edward Maxwell. In 1721, another Edward Maxwell had a two-storey Georgian wing added to the tower's east side, using stone taken from older buildings nearby, and incorporating armorial panels celebrating members of the Maxwell family.
Coordinates: 55°46.1101′N4°18.5415′W / 55.7685017°N 4.3090250°W