Building record MAB31679 - BALINTORE CASTLE, GLENISLA

Castle (category A-listed) in the form of a Scots Baronial mansion, and a C-listed kennel.

Castle (category A-listed) in the form of a Scots Baronial mansion, and a C-listed kennel. The mansion was built in 1859-60 to the design of William Burn, Architect, and is also spelled as 'Balentore Castle'. The kennels were built around the same time. It is shown on the 1st edition OS map as a rectangular house with an L-plan wing to the north. There are rectangular buildings depicted as offices to the north-west. On the 2nd edition OS map the offices are depicted as kennels. The castle was disused in the 1960s, and it fell into poor repair over the following decades. Restoration work on the castle had begun by 2008, and as of May 2016 the work is ongoing. It is a tall, two-storey with attic and basement mansion, and is built of coursed stugged and squared red sandstone with polished ashlar dressings. There are crowstepped gables, square-shafted Jacobean stacks and scrolled dormerheads. Angle turrets have fishscale slated conical roofs and iron ball finials, and there are gargoyles at the south-west and south-east turrets. The L-plan wing to the north is a single-storey kitchen offices wing. The west main elevation has an elaborate Jacobean doorpiece within a gable, with ringed shafts, a cable-moulded cornice and an elaborate strapworked sopra-porte (overdoor) panel surmounted by a small pediment. A heraldic panel has since been lost, and was flanked by die-blocks with urn finials. There is a two-leaf, eight-panel oak door within the doorpiece. The entrance gable is flanked by corbelled angle turrets. The west elevation also features a four-storey and basement square advanced square tower, buttressed at the ground floor. The east and south elevations feature three-light canted windows projecting from the first floor, corbelled from a wall buttress on the east elevation. An archaeological watching brief was undertaken by Murray Archaeology Services in August 2007 while a cable trench was cut. No features were observed. A photographic survey was carried out in 2008 prior to conversion of part of the castle. The single-storey kennels are constructed from rubble with red sandstone ashlar dressings. The elevations are symmetrical, with a central south-facing gable. The openings on the south elevation have been altered, with some windows blocked. The slate roof is platformed at the ridge and has a continuous vent. Burnside Lodge (NO25NE0068) is the gate lodge for the castle.

Period Notes
The house was built in 1859-60, and the kennels around the same time. The castle was listed on 15/01/1980, and the kennels on 06/03/1992.

Murray, H & C, 2007, Balintore Castle, Lintrathen, Angus (Bibliographic reference). SAB2982.

ARCHAEOLOGY SCOTLAND, 2008, DISCOVERY & EXCAVATION SCOTLAND, p.33 (JC Murray) (Bibliographic reference). SAB4029.

Record last edited

Aug 21 2024 3:48PM