Crawford Castle, substantially in ruins, is located on the north bank of the River Clyde, around 1⁄2 mile (800 metres) north of Crawford, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. The ruins stand on an earlier motte and bailey earthwork. The castle is also known as Lindsay Tower, after its former owners, the Lindsay family. The strategic location of the castle, at NS954213 , guards the strategically important Mennock Pass from England into the upper Clyde Valley.
Archaeological excavations to the north-west of the castle have shown that a Roman fort, with a garrison of perhaps 300, existed at this site between 80 AD and 170 AD. [1]
This site was the administrative centre for the Barony of Crawford, at that time the largest and most influential barony in southern Scotland. The Barony was established before 1100 when records of the period show Sveinn as Lord of Crawford. Upon his death, his son Thor, Lord of Tranent and the Sheriff of Edinburghshire, is recorded as Lord of Crawford. [2] Crawford Castle was in existence by 1175, [3] and was probably built as an earthwork and timber castle some time before this by Thor, [4] or indeed by Thor's father Sveinn.
The Lindsay family inherited the barony of Crawford when William Lindsay married ca. 1154 the younger daughter of Thor, and granddaughter of Sveinn, Lord of Crawford or following the death of Thor in about 1165. It was probably William Lindsay who built the stone castle by 1175. He is recorded as Lord of Crawford by 1185x1190. [5] Crawford Castle is located in Crawford Parish. From an early date, the Clan Carmichael of Meadowflatt acted as hereditary constables of the castle, retaining this post under successive owners.
In 1398, Robert II granted the title of Earl of Crawford to David Lindsay, who had won great praise on St George’s Day, 23 April 1390 for bravery in a duel with the Englishman Baron Welles on London Bridge after Welles, as Champion of England, at a banquet in Edinburgh and presumably after too much alcohol, issued the challenge: "Let words have no place; if ye know not the Chivalry and Valiant deeds of Englishmen; appoint me a day and a place where ye list, and ye shall have experience." [6]
At the accession of James IV in 1488 the barony of Crawford was transferred to Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Angus for supporting the young prince's rebellion against his father James III. The Earls of Angus held the castle until 1578, when their estates were forfeited by the young James V. James used Crawford as a hunting lodge until his own death in 1542. His mistress, Elizabeth Carmichael, was the daughter of the hereditary constable. She was the mother of John Stewart, Commendator of Coldingham. James V and Mary of Guise came to Crawford in July 1541 bringing tapestry to furnish their lodging at the castle. George Carmichael, son of the Captain of Crawford, presented three ounces of Scottish gold to the queen. [7]
After 1542 the barony was returned to the Earls of Angus, the keepership of the Carmichaels of Meadowflatt coming to an end in 1595. In 1633 the 11th earl was created Marquess of Douglas, and the castle was probably rebuilt after this date. The castle then passed to the Duke of Hamilton, before being sold to Sir George Colebrooke in the 18th century. After a period of use as a farmhouse, the building was abandoned at the end of the 18th century, and much of the stone reused to build the present Crawford Castle Farm. Four stone tablets bearing coats of arms, one with the date 1648, are built into the west and south walls of the Castle Crawford House. [8]
The early earthworks of Crawford Castle comprise a motte around 5 m high, with a surrounding ditch and a bailey some 45 m by 33 m to the south-west. On the motte are the remains of a curtain wall, surrounding an enclosure around 20 m square. There may have been round towers at the corners of this enclosure, which probably dates to the 16th or early 17th centuries. A range of buildings on the south-west side of the castle were built at around the same time. This tower-like range was of three storeys, plus an attic, with a vaulted basement and projecting chimney-breast. To the south-east, a second range was added later in the 17th century, providing more spacious accommodation with larger windows. The prominent arched recess in the east wall suggests that a single storey building of some kind projected from the main structure at this location. [9] Much of the present remains probably date from the 17th century rebuilding by the Marquess of Douglas.
Crawford Castle is specified in a list of monuments published by the Minister of Public Building and Works under the Ancient Monuments Consolidation and Amendment Act 1913. It is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument. [10] The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland lists the site as a castle or motte.
Bothwell Castle is a large medieval castle, sited on a high, steep bank, above a bend in the River Clyde in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is located between Bothwell and Uddingston, about 10 miles (16 km) south-east of Glasgow. Construction of the castle was begun in the 13th century by the ancestors of Clan Murray, to guard a strategic crossing point of the Clyde. Bothwell played a key role in Scotland's Wars of Independence, changing hands several times.
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.
Tantallon Castle is a ruined mid-14th-century fortress, located 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) east of North Berwick, in East Lothian, Scotland. It sits atop a promontory opposite the Bass Rock, looking out onto the Firth of Forth. The last medieval curtain wall castle to be constructed in Scotland, Tantallon comprises a single wall blocking off the headland, with the other three sides naturally protected by sea cliffs.
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.
Craignethan Castle is a ruined castle in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is located above the River Nethan, a tributary of the River Clyde, at NS816464. The castle is two miles west of the village of Crossford, and 4.5 miles north-west of Lanark. Built in the first half of the 16th century, Craignethan is recognised as an excellent early example of a sophisticated artillery fortification, although its defences were never fully tested.
Greenan Castle is a 16th-century ruined tower house, around 2+1⁄2 miles southwest of Ayr in South Ayrshire, Scotland. Situated at the top of a sea cliff, it was originally a promontory fort converted into a motte-and-bailey in the 12th century. In the 15th century a tower house was built by the Lords of the Isles, which later passed into the hands of the Kennedy family.
Mugdock Castle was the stronghold of the Clan Graham from the middle of the 13th century. Its ruins are located in Mugdock Country Park, just west of the village of Mugdock in the parish of Strathblane. The castle is within the registration county of Stirlingshire, although it is only 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) north of Milngavie, East Dunbartonshire, on the northern outskirts of Greater Glasgow.
Finavon Castle lies on the River South Esk, about a quarter of a mile south of Milton of Finavon village and five miles to the north-east of Forfar in Angus, Scotland. The name is applied both to a ruined 17th-century castle, as well as the 19th-century mansion house 130m to the west.
Easter Greenock Castle was a castle of unknown design near the burgh of Greenock, Scotland.
Thor of Tranent, also known as Thor, son of Sveinn or Thor, son of Swain, Lord of Tranent and Sheriff of Lothian, was a landlord and chieftain active in Lothian in the reign of King David I of Scotland. He is attested in a large number of charters during King David's reign in Lothian, both as a charter witness on charters granted by other patrons and on charters he himself issued. His name appears either as Thor son of Sveinn or "Thor of Tranent", the latter appellation deriving from his ownership of the "barony" of Tranent, East Lothian, lands including a wide area around the modern town, including, for instance, Prestonpans.
Lochmaben Castle is a ruined castle in the town of Lochmaben, the feudal Lordship of Annandale, and the united county of Dumfries and Galloway. It was built by Edward I in the 14th century replacing an earlier motte and bailey castle, and later rebuilt during the reign of James IV of Scotland. The earlier motte-and-bailey castle was built south of the current castle in c. 1160 by the Bruce family, Lords of Annandale.
Trabboch Castle is a ruined L-plan tower house in the old Barony of Trabboch, Parish of Stair, East Ayrshire, Scotland.
The remains of the old castle of Kersland lie about 1.5 miles to the north-east of the town of Dalry in North Ayrshire, Scotland, in the old Barony of Kersland. The River Garnock lies nearby.
The substantial remains of the old castle and sixteenth century manor house of Kilbirnie lie west of the town of Kilbirnie in North Ayrshire, Scotland, on the lower slopes of the Glengarnock Hills, in the old Barony of Kilbirnie. The building is also variously known as the Place of Kilbirnie, The Place, or Kilbirnie House.
The Barony of Glengarnock is a Scottish feudal barony in the county of Ayrshire in Scotland.
Fairlie Castle is a restored oblong tower castle located on a natural rounded knoll situated above a precipitous section of the Fairlie Glen near the town of Fairlie in the old Barony of Fairlie, Parish of Largs, North Ayrshire, Scotland. It was built by the now extinct family, the Fairlies of that Ilk and survives in a fairly good state of preservation. It is a protected scheduled monument.
North Berwick Castle was a castle on motte, originating in the 13th-century, east of North Berwick, East Lothian, Scotland, just south of the Firth of Forth.
Daviot Castle was a 15th-century castle, about 6 miles southeast of Inverness, Highland, Scotland, and west of the River Nairn at Daviot. Also known as Strathnairn Castle, its remains are designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
The site of the old Newbie Castle, Newbay Castle or Newby Castle was the caput of the Barony of Newbie near Annan close to the confluence of the River Annan and the Solway Firth in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Held by the Corries and then the Johnstones. Newbie Harbour on the River Annan was located nearby.
Media related to Crawford Castle at Wikimedia Commons