Melgund Castle

For other places with the same name, see Melgund.
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 is L-shaped and was probably styled on 15th century fortified houses. 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.

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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