Castle Grant

Castle Grant stands a mile north of Grantown-on-Spey and was the former seat of the Clan Grant chiefs of Strathspey in Highlands, Scotland.[1] It was originally named Freuchie Castle but was renamed Grant in 1694.[1]

Castle Grant from the front
Castle Grant from rear
The gate house of Castle Grant

History

15th - 16th centuries

The castle is a Z-plan tower house that dates from the fifteenth century.[1] The lands had been held by the Clan Comyn but passed to the Grants in the fifteenth century and it became their main stronghold.[1]

The castle was originally named Freuchie Castle and James Grant of Freuchie supported James V of Scotland.[1]

17th - 18th centuries

Although the Grants were Protestants they joined James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose during the Scottish Civil War in the 1640s.[1] The name of the castle changed from Freuchie Castle to Castle Grant in 1694 when the lands were made into the regality of Grant.[1]

Ludovick Grant, the eighth laird supported the Hanoverians against the Stewarts and fought against the Jacobites in both the Jacobite rising of 1715 and the Jacobite rising of 1745.[1] However Castle Grant was occupied by the Jacobites.[1]

In 1787 Robert Burns visited Castle Grant.

Modern history

It later became derelict, but was restored in the 1990s.[1][2] The property was purchased for £720,000 by businessman Craig Whyte in 2006.[2] Castle Grant was seized by the Bank of Scotland after Whyte, who had led Rangers F.C. into its administration and liquidation in 2012, refused to make mortgage payments.[2] It was sold to foreign buyers in September 2014.[2]

Ghost

Castle Grant is allegedly haunted by the ghost of Lady Barbara Grant, daughter of a sixteenth century laird.[1] However her small apparition is said to be sad rather than terrifying.[1] She is said to have died of a broken heart after being imprisoned in a dark closet for falling in love with the wrong man.[1]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 1.11 1.12 Coventry, Martin. (2008). Castles of the Clans: The Strongholds and Seats of 750 Scottish Families and Clans. pp. 241 - 243. ISBN 978-1-899874-36-1.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Craig Whyte’s former Castle Grant home is sold". The Scotsman. 16 September 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2014.

Sources

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Castle Grant.

Coordinates: 57°21′7.20″N 3°35′40.98″W / 57.3520000°N 3.5947167°W