A mansion in which several portions of an older edifice
have been incorporated. The building seems to have been originally a
structure of an elongated L plan, with a staircase in the re-entering
angle. The hall would in that case occupy the large central apartment,
with private room at the east end. Two angel turrets on the west wing
are of some age. Probably not earlier than the 16th. c., the castle, at
the end of a steep sided promontory, occupies the site of a much older
structure. It was here that William the Lion, in the 12th.c., erected
the fortress of Ederdour.
Redcastle belonged in 1230 to Sir John Bysset, in 1278 to Sir Andrew de
Besco and in 1455 the Black Isle was annexed to the Crown. The castle
was in the possession of Hugh Douglas, Earl of Ormonde(1),
who was executed in 1455, when Redcastle reverted to the Crown. It came into the possession of the MacKenzies
in 1570 who held it until 1790. By 1492 the castle and its lands were
under the control of Kenneth Mackenzie, 7th of Kintail, and they
remained in the possession of Clan Mackenzie until 1790. It was burned
to the ground in 1659 when Rory MacKenzie joined Montrose.
Redcastle, historically known as Edirdovar and Ederdour, is a mediaeval
castle in Killearnan on the Black Isle, northern Scotland. It is so
named from the colour of the stone of which it is built. The castle is
now in a state of ruinous disrepair, although it is protected as a
category B listed building.
The present building is dated 1641 but incorporates earlier work of
rubble and ashlar masonry which is typically associated with older
structures. Additionally, the castle was remodelled in the 19th century
by William Burn. The estate was bought by Colonel H.D. Baillie in 1838
and passed into the ownership of the family of Lord Burton of Dochfour.
The castle was requisitioned by the army during World War II and was
finally vacated and part stripped in the 1950s.
Redcastle was until relatively recently one of the oldest inhabited
houses in Scotland. The structure has a L-shaped floor plan and is
approximately 3-stories. It no longer has a roof.
The present building is dated 1641 but incorporates earlier work of
rubble and ashlar masonry which is typically associated with older
structures. Additionally, the castle was remodelled in the 19th century
by William Burn. The estate was bought by Colonel H.D. Baillie in 1838
and passed into the ownership of the family of Lord Burton of Dochfour.
The castle was requisitioned by the army during World War II and was
finally vacated and part stripped in the 1950s.
Notes:
1. He received from his brother the
8th Earl of
Douglas, the
lands of Rattray, Aberdour, and Crimond in Aberdeenshire, that of
Dunsyre, Lanarkshire, and those of Ardmanach (Modern Redcastle, between
Tore and Muir of Ord) and Ormonde, (modern day Avoch) in Invernesshire.
He had been created Earl of Ormonde 10 years earlier, and the lands were
probably tansferred at about that time.
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