Balwearie Castle

Balwearie Castle is a ruined tower house dating back to the century, sitting on land between a number of private residences. This land lies on a saddle with higher ground to east and west, and lower to north and south, the latter being the location of a pond. It is not possible to see the castle from public roads.

The lands of Balwearie were held by Sir Michael Scott in 1280, and had previously been held by Geoffrey son of Richard (in 1203) and by Sir Michael’s brother Sir Richard; in all cases the lands were held by Dunfermline Abbey since the reign of King Alexander I. They remained with the Scott family until the early 17th century, when debts incurred as the result of Catholic rebellion alongside the earls of Erroll and Huntly forced the sale of all the family estates.

In 1464, William Scott of Balwearie was granted a license to erect a castle or fortalice on his lands of Balwearie by the regime of Bishop James Kennedy in the name of King James III. The difficulty is in knowing which Sir William this was. The Sir William who married Isabel Moncrieffe died in 1498, and was succeeded by his son, another Sir William, who married Janet Lundie was captured at Flodden, was created Lord Balwearie in 1532, and died later the same year. The tower consists of a double height vaulted basement with an entresol floor on joists, a great hall level, and two further floors, above which was the corbelled out battlement level, and there is evidence in the masonry of a courtyard wall as well.

The entrance to the tower was at first floor (hall) level, and immediately to the right (west) was a winding stair extending downwards to the entresol, and upwards to the upper floors. The basement was lit with tiny slit windows, as was the entresol level; and whilst the hall had larger windows, these may have been altered post-construction. The second floor windows certainly were. There was a garderobe chamber in the northern corner at hall and second floor level, and a great fireplace serving the second floor. As the stairwell extended into the internal space of the tower, it is possible that the tower was subdivided from the hall upwards, with the vanished half containing the higher status areas, and the standing remains containing the entrance hall/waiting area.

The debts incurred by the Scotts at the end of the 16th century meant that in 1607, after the death of his father, Sir James Scott was forced to assign the lands of Balwearie to Alexander Adam, a notary, in return for £20,000 Scots, and subsequently sold them to Sir James Cunningham of Glengarnock, with Glengarnock  selling them to George Erskine in 1611. Clearly the change of ownership was complex, but it was finally resolved by 1623, with Erskine the new owner. Erskine’s daughter then sold the lands to George, Lord Melville in the 1650s. What happened subsequently to the castle isn’t clear, but it appears on a 1775 map as in ruins, presumably having been robbed for building materials, it was certainly in ruins by 1793, which is the date of the sketch in the image. Not as much survives today!

HES Canmore database entry