Balvenie Castle, dufftown - Wee Guides to scotland castles and mansions

Wee Guides to Scotland
Balvenie Castle, Dufftown, Moray

Goblinshead

130 Inveresk Rd
Musselburgh
EH21 7AY
SCOTLAND

In a pleasant location, Balvenie Castle is a large ruinous courtyard castle. It consists of a 13th-century curtain wall and deep ditch, a 16th-century L-plan tower house at one corner, and other 15th-century ranges within the courtyard. The original yett still protects the entrance. The Comyns built the first castle, then called Mortlach, which was destroyed or much reduced by the forces of Robert the Bruce in 1308. Balvenie passed to the Douglases, then to John Stewart, Earl of Atholl, in 1455. Mary, Queen of Scots, visited in 1562. The castle was used by the Marquis of Montrose during his campaign of 1644-5 against the Covenanters, and it was nearby that a Covenanter force, led by Alexander Leslie, defeated a Royalist army in 1649, taking 900 prisoners. The castle was abandoned in 1724, and the ruins were put into the care of the State in 1929. Disabled WC. There are two distilleries nearby.

Directions:	Off A941, Dufftown, Moray.
Ownership:	HS	01340 820121	Ord. Survey Map Ref:	NJ 326409 28
Open:	April to September.
Key:	P S WC £	Click Here for explanation of Key and other abreviations

Fax: +44 (0) 131 653 6566 Tel: +44 (0) 131 665 2894
email: goblinshead@sol.co.uk