Ballencrieff Castle, also known as Ballencrieff House, is a large

tower house A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, to command and defend strategic points ...

at Ballencrieff,

East Lothian East Lothian (; ; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a Counties of Scotland, historic county, registration county and Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. It is located three miles north west of Haddington, and one mile south of

Aberlady Aberlady (, Gaelic: ''Obar Lobhaite'') is a coastal village in the Scottish council area of East Lothian. The village had an estimated population of in . Etymology The name ''Aberlady'' has Brittonic origins. The first part of the name is t ...

History

The castle was built in 1507 when King

James IV James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauch ...

ordered his private secretary James Murray to build himself a fortified house at Ballencrieff. It was destroyed in or around 1545. From around 1550 to 1580 the house was owned (and presumably rebuilt) by David Borthwick, Lord Lochill who renamed it Lochill Castle. In 1608 the Ballencrieff estate was bought by Bernard Lindsay of Lochhill, owner of the King's Wark, and then to Sir Patrick Murray in 1632, In 1679 it passed to Sir Peter Wedderburn. General James Murray, a Governor of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, was baptised in Aberlady, and is said to have been born at Ballencrieff, in 1721. If so this suggests that his father Alexander, 4th

Lord Elibank Lord Elibank, of Ettrick Forest in the County of Selkirk, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1643 for Sir Patrick Murray, 1st Baronet, with remainder to his heirs male whatsoever. He had already been created a Baronet, of ...

, George's father, was then resident there. The house burnt down accidentally in 1868, and a small garden cottage was built using the stone from the castle. The cottage still currently stands within the grounds of the walled garden. The castle stood roofless until it was restored between 1992 and 1997. It is now privately owned, and it is situated next to a

free range Free range denotes a method of farming husbandry where the animals can roam freely outdoors for at least part of the day, rather than being confined in an enclosure for 24 hours each day. On many farms, the outdoors ranging area is fenced, th ...

rare breed pig farm. The long, rectangular-plan, tower has three storeys, including a vaulted basement, with a near-symmetrical north front. The tall, narrow south-east wing has

crow-step A stepped gable, crow-stepped gable, or corbie step is a stairstep type of design at the top of the triangular gable-end of a building. The top of the parapet wall projects above the roofline and the top of the brick or stone wall is stacked in ...

gables. The castle, along with its

walled garden A walled garden is a garden enclosed by high walls, especially when this is done for horticultural rather than security purposes, although originally all gardens may have been enclosed for protection from animal or human intruders. In temperate c ...

and pavilion, is a category B

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. During restoration works, 16th-century gun holes and wooden draw-bars on the windows, were discovered in the ruins. The remains of two early 17th-century moulded plaster ceilings with the initials and heraldry of

Gideon Murray Sir Gideon Murray of Elibank (died 1621), was a Scottish courtier and landowner, who served as Treasurer-Depute of Scotland. Family Gideon Murray was the third son of Sir Andrew Murray of Black Barony (died 1572), and Grisel Beaton, a daughter o ...

, and the remnants of an elaborate fireplace, were found on the first floor.

References

External links

Nigel Tranter Albavision Video of Ballencrieff Castle restoration

Geograph photo of Ballencrieff Castle

Pre-restoration view of Ballencrieff Castle
{{Authority control Castles in East Lothian Category B listed buildings in East Lothian Listed castles in Scotland Tower houses in Scotland

History

See also

References

External links