Balcraig Castle was built on lands given to the Oliphants by King Robert the Bruce circa 1317.The Oliphants in Scotland by Joseph Anderson

Location

Balcraig Castle stood on the western flank of

Hatton Hill Hatton Hill is a mountain landform in Angus, Scotland in the Sidlaw Hills. Hatton Castle stands on the flanks of Hatton Hill above the village of Newtyle. The general vicinity has elements of prehistory including presence of the Eassie Stone, a ...

about half a mile south of the village of

Newtyle Newtyle is a village in the west of Angus, Scotland. It lies north of Dundee in the southwest of Strathmore, between Hatton Hill and Newtyle ( Heather Hill) in the Sidlaws. The village sits on gently sloping ground with a northwest aspect. T ...

Angus Angus may refer to: Media * ''Angus'' (film), a 1995 film * ''Angus Og'' (comics), in the ''Daily Record'' Places Australia * Angus, New South Wales Canada * Angus, Ontario, a community in Essa, Ontario * East Angus, Quebec Scotland * An ...

, in the Sidlaw Hills. Today no evidence remains of the structure save an area levelled off in the top left corner of the field in which it once stood. The location was strategic as the castle guarded the route through the Sidlaw Hills at this natural cleft.

History

In 1317 King Robert the Bruce rewarded Sir William Oliphant, Lord of Aberdalgie with a number of grants of land including Gasknes,

, Kinpurnie, Auchtertyre, Balcrais, Muirhouse and Hazelhead. It is not known when the castle of Balcraig was constructed but it was superseded in 1575 when Hatton Castle was erected by the 4th Lord Oliphant nearby. The only known representation of Balcraig is in Timothy Pont's map of the area circa 1590, when it was still standing. It has been suggested that Balcraig was of wooden construction but this is not supported by the fact that a number of boulder stones were ploughed up in the vicinity of the site of the old castle some forty years ago (circa 1970). The size of the stones suggested that they were the foundations of a stone fortalice. There is also a diary record of the blowing up of the castle at Newtyle. Hatton Castle, although ruinous until it was restored in the 1980s, was still standing, rather, it had had some major repairs by its owners. The ''Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland'' states that: "The ruins of Hatton Castle and the scanty vestiges of Balcraig have both been separately noticed".''The Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland'' (1884). Published by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works. London: 45 Ludgate Hill. Glasgow: 48 Gordon Stree

/ref> Since a wooden structure would not have survived from 1317 to 1884, the "scanty vestiges" visible must have been stone.

References

{{Authority control Former castles in Scotland Castles in Angus, Scotland Demolished buildings and structures in Scotland