Buittle Castle
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Buittle Castle, also known historically as Botle or Botel Castle, is a Motte and Bailey site in Galloway, south-west Scotland comprising a significant ruined Norman style Motte, and several extant buildings and gardens, including the later residential building in the form of the Tower House, on the historic Bailey. It is located in the valley of the River Urr, 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) west of Dalbeattie. The castle is within the parish of Buittle, in the traditional county of Kirkcudbrightshire and is a scheduled ancient monument.[1][2]
A motte and bailey castle was built either by Uchtred, Lord of Galloway or his son Roland, Lord of Galloway, in the 12th century. The castle passed by marriage to John de Balliol through the heiress of Alan, Lord of Galloway, Dervorguilla of Galloway, who built the Norman castle. Robert de Brus, 5th Lord of Annandale, captured the castle in 1286. The castle was in English hands in 1296. King Robert the Bruce captured the castle in 1313 and it was given to Sir James Douglas, Lord of Douglas. The castle came into Edward Balliol's hands in 1332, before being given to Archibald the Grim, 3rd Earl of Douglas, in 1372. The castle remained in the hands of the Douglasses until 1456, when the castle reverted to the Crown. The castle was later in the hands of the Maxwells and briefly the Gordons. The Motte was slighted in 1595, leaving the remaining buildings of the Bailey, which, it is believed, had already been taken on by this time as the primary residential buildings. [3] This residential shift from the motte to the bailey of the castle began, in the first place, with the building of a Mansion House dated to AD 1347,[4] likely affixed to the keep of the bailey, built by Edward Balliol, and latterly by the Tower House as the primary residential building of the castle. By this time in Scottish history, the tower house was the prevailing form of castle, or fortified building in Scotland. [5]
The ruins remained in the possession of the Maxwells of Munches until 1984 when they were gifted to Balliol College, Oxford by Peter Maxwell QC of Munches [1] himself a Balliol man. [2]
Buittle Tower
Old Place of Buittle, also known as Buittle Tower is a late 16th century fortified house and not a Castle with 17th century additions. [6] By about 1790 the tower was a roofless ruin but in the mid-nineteenth century it was re-roofed to serve as accommodation for farm workers when it became part of the neighbouring Munches estate.
The current buildings have for some reason be renamed Buittle Castle by the latest owners despite the property being Buittle Tower, a fortified house, it comprises a courtyard on the site of the Inner Bailey. This courtyard includes the Buittle Craft Guild workshops, a printing office, a chapel created from a former outhouse and the L-plan tower house. The real Castle is just ruins and is positioned not far from the Fortified house (Buittle Tower)
External links
Citations
- ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Buittle Castle (SM1115)". Retrieved 25 February 2019.
- ^ "Buittle Castle". CANMORE. Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland.
- ^ History of the Lands and Their Owners in Galloway, By P.H. M'kerlie 1879
- ^ A Penman and E Cochrane 1997 & 1998 Interim Report'Botel Castle bailey/Buittle Castle (Buittle parish), prehistoric site and early medieval bailey', Discovery Excav Scot
- ^ Brennan-Inglis, J. (2014), Scotland's Castles: Rescued, Rebuilt and Reoccupied. The History Press p. 41
- ^ "Buittle Place | Canmore". canmore.org.uk. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
54°56′07″N 3°50′40″W / 54.9352°N 3.8445°W
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