Fintry Castle

Fintry Castle is on top of a hill with good views up and down the Endrick Valley west of Falkirk, and the ruins are fragmentary. It is a stiff climb, and the field is used for livestock, so care should be taken regarding when it is appropriate to visit. The castle appears to have been a rectangular tower within a walled courtyard, and to have had a ditch defence which may have been water filled to the south. It does not appear to have been a particularly strong castle; the walls are no more than 1.3 metres thick, and it may be that we are talking about a hall-house rather than a tower.

Fintry was a Grahame property from the 15th century, although they may have started out as tenants of the earls of Lennox. It was not the main property of the family, who were based near Dundee, and a mid 16th century document mentions the lands but not any fortalice of Fintry, and the property may have been called Cragtoun prior to this. On Pont’s map, the settlement of Fintry is shown, but not the castle. In 1656 Strathendrick was sold to the Marquis of Montrose, and in the 1660s a map was drawn up which shows the ruin of John de Grahams castle at Dundaff clearly – as well as the “ruynies of Grayme Castle”. Presumably, then, it was a short-lived 17th century manor or house that was destroyed during the 1640s.

HES Canmore database entry