Balhousie Castle

Balhousie Castle is a baronial mansion of the 19th century which incorporates fragments of a tower house commonly said to have built for the Earls of Kinnoull. Today the building serves as the headquarters and museum for the Black Watch Regiment, and is open to the public, although there is very little of the old tower house to be seen.

The Canmore database holds an 1849 image of Balhousie as it looked before the baronial restoration. This shows a fairly standard-looking L-plan tower house with the main hall block of three storeys and an attic, and the square wing one storey more, and a little higher. It also shows a small projecting turret of rectangular shape projecting on corbels which housed a winding stair from the first floor to the watch room at the top of the wing. The image does not show the entrance or any top-floor turrets, and it is clear that the first floor windows have been reworked. The building had been out of use for perhaps 60 years before restoration, and the building now has a footprint more than twice the size of the original, but maintaining the same orientation and L-shape.

The lands of Balhousie were held by the Elliott family in the 15th century, with Richard Elliott mentioned in 1475. John Elliott of Balhousie is mentioned in 1505, and a document of 1525 mentions Robert Elliott, son of the deceased John. In 1598 and 1601, it was Colin Elliott. A datestone on the building shows the year 1631, at which point George Hay was not yet made the first earl. It is also the case that in 1631, George Hay was not the holder of Balhousie, it was probably his younger brother Francis Hay, the third son of Peter Hay of Megginch, first mentioned in 1632. A document of 23rd February 1650 is noted as a grant of the lands of Balhousie to “Thomas, Earl of Kinnoull”, Francis’ grandson – but Thomas did not become earl until 1709, the 6th earl having resigned his estates in 1688. It would therefore seem likely that Francis left Balhousie to his son George, and George to his son Thomas. Either way, Thomas of Balhousie was the first earl of Kinnoull to hold the place, and it is likely that this date saw a decline in the importance of Balhousie, the comital title coming with more impressive seats. The baronial remodelling took place between 1862 and 1864, and it became the home of the Black Watch museum in 2009.

Black Watch Museum website

HES Canmore database entry