Plean Castle: A Scottish Tower House and Noble Residence
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.5
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Primary era
- Medieval
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Early Modern, Modern
- Civilizations
- British, Kingdom of Scotland
- Site type
- Domestic
- Remains
- Castle
On this page8 sections
History
Plean Castle is a Scottish noble residence in the United Kingdom, near Stirling and about one mile from Plean. Its principal tower was probably built during the second half of the fifteenth century, when the Plean lands were held by the Somerville family.
Origins and Somerville ownership
Shortly after 1314, Robert Bruce, King of Scots from 1306 to 1329, granted the barony of Plean, also called Plane, to John d’Erth. A barony was a territorial estate historically associated with powers of jurisdiction and administration. Lord Somerville acquired the lands through marriage in 1449 and probably commissioned the tower’s construction later in the fifteenth century.
An adjoining manor house was built around 1528, expanding the residential complex. A courtyard was added south of the tower during the sixteenth century. In 1643, James Somervell, eighth Lord of Plane, sold the barony and its lands to pay his debts. Ownership then passed first to the Nicholsons and later to the Elphinstones.
Decline, occupation, and restoration
The tower and manor house subsequently fell into disrepair. During the 1745 rebellion, the major eighteenth-century uprising by Jacobite supporters of the Stuart claim to the British throne, Jacobite troops were quartered on the estate.
Sir David Menzies restored the buildings in 1908, but they had ceased to be used by the 1930s. Nancy and John Patrick Wright and their sons rebuilt and renovated the ruins between 1991 and 1997, creating a family home and holiday accommodation. Plean Castle has held Category B listed-building status since 5 September 1973. This Scottish designation identifies buildings of regional or more than local importance and provides legal protection.
Remains
The surviving complex combines a small, oblong fifteenth-century tower house with an adjoining sixteenth-century manor house. A tower house is a compact fortified residence that combines domestic accommodation with defensive features. The buildings are constructed in masonry with rendered surfaces, and the manor house is linked to the tower by a wooden walkway.
Tower and manor house
Fifteenth-century tower
The tower was originally three full storeys high, with a garret, or attic and upper storage level, and a projecting parapet supported by corbelling. Corbelling is a projecting arrangement of masonry that supports an overhanging structure. Inside, the great hall retains painted ceiling beams and a large open fireplace.
Sixteenth-century manor house
The manor house, built around 1528, survives in part above a vaulted basement. The wooden connection to the tower forms part of the later habitable arrangement of the complex. Extensive restoration added an additional storey and adapted the buildings for residential use.
Courtyard and grounds
The sixteenth-century courtyard south of the tower survives only in fragments. The surrounding grounds include a sculpture garden and a large pond.
