Balquhain Castle: A Ruined Scottish Tower House
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Primary era
- Medieval
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- Kingdom of Scotland
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page6 sections
History
Leslie stronghold
Balquhain Castle is a ruined fifteenth-century tower house in Scotland, about 4 kilometres west of Inverurie in Aberdeenshire, United Kingdom. Built on land held by the Leslie family from 1340, it became the stronghold of the Leslies of Balquhain.
Building work was still being completed in 1441. On 5 July that year, John Leslie of Balquhain contracted four masons, David Hardgat, David Dun, Robert Masoun, and Gilbert Masoun, to finish work at the castle. The building was later drawn into a feud with the Forbes family. Forbes forces sacked it in 1526, after which it was rebuilt in 1530.
Royal connections and local conflict
Mary, Queen of Scots, stayed at Balquhain Castle on 1 September 1562. She was Scotland’s monarch from 1542 to 1567. William Leslie, laird of Balquhain, meaning the local landed proprietor, served as a leader of her vanguard, the foremost division of an army, at the Battle of Corrichie.
In March 1563, Mary pardoned William Leslie for his dealings with George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly, a major Scottish nobleman and head of the Gordon family. She also wrote to Leslie to arrange provisions for another visit in August 1564.
Further conflict followed in 1588, when John Leslie of Balquhain unsuccessfully supported Thomas Leslie of Banff in a dispute over fishing rights with the burgesses of Aberdeen. After John’s son fought with several men from Aberdeen, James VI and the Earl of Huntly brought the dispute to a settlement. James VI was then king of Scotland and later became James I of England in 1603.
Destruction and protection
Balquhain Castle was burned in 1746 by forces led by William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, during the Jacobite rising of 1745–1746. Cumberland was the British commander of the government forces in that conflict. The castle was subsequently abandoned.
The remains have been protected as a scheduled monument since 30 July 1938. This status is applied to archaeological or historical sites whose preservation is considered nationally important. The designation covers Balquhain Castle, its secular barmkin, and the surviving castle and tower remains.
Remains
Tower and defensive enclosure
Balquhain Castle survives as a ruin. Its principal structure is a tower house, a fortified residence arranged around a tall masonry tower, measuring approximately 13.75 by 8.75 metres. The remains are enclosed by a barmkin, a small defensive enclosure formed by an enclosing wall or yard associated with a Scottish tower house. Together, the surviving tower and enclosure define the castle’s principal physical arrangement.
