Melgund Castle

Front view of Melgund Castle (June 2009)

Melgund Castle, lying around 2 kilometres due east of Aberlemno in Angus, Scotland, is a restored 16th-century house which today serves as a private residence.

The castle is generally said to have been built in 1543 on the orders of Cardinal David Beaton as a home for himself and his mistress, Margaret Ogilvie. However, Charles McKean has argued that the work of the 1540s was a re-modelling of an earlier building.[1] It much later passed by marriage to the Earls of Minto, who were granted the title Viscounts Melgund, presently used by the heir to the earldom. The building has been made to look like a 16th-century wing added to a late 15th-century tower(2) although in fact it appears to be all mid 16th century. Archaeological investigations were carried out at the castle between 1990 and 1996. The castle was long in a semi-ruined state, and lacking a roof, until restored by Benjamin Tindall Architects.

Melgund Castle in 2006, the restored battlements in new stone from a specially re-opened quarry nearby

References

  1. McKean, Charles, The Scottish Château (2001), chapter 2.

2. Castles of Grampian & Angus, Mike Salter 1995 Coordinates: 56°41′48.44″N 2°44′32.02″W / 56.6967889°N 2.7422278°W / 56.6967889; -2.7422278


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