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Blervie Castle is a ruined 16th-century Z-plan
Blervie Castle is a ruined 16th-century Z-plan 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, in order to command and defend strateg ...
, about south-east of Forres
Forres (; gd, Farrais) is a town and former royal burgh in the north of Scotland on the Moray coast, approximately northeast of Inverness and west of Elgin. Forres has been a winner of the Scotland in Bloom award on several occasions. There ...
, Moray
Moray () gd, Moireibh or ') is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland.
Between 1975 ...
, Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
, and about north-east of Rafford
Rafford ( gd, Ràthard) is a village in Moray, Scotland. It is approximately southeast of the town of Forres, and northwest of the village of Dallas.
The parish church was designed by James Gillespie Graham
James Gillespie Graham (11 ...
.Coventry, Martin (1997) ''The Castles of Scotland''. Goblinshead. p.83
Alternative names are Blare; Blarvie; Blairvie; Blervie Tower; and Ulerin.
History
The property was originally held by the Comyns, and it is thought that there was a royal castle here in the 13th century - the Exchequer Rolls mention repair of the royal castle in anticipation ofHaakon IV of Norway
Haakon IV Haakonsson ( – 16 December 1263; Old Norse: ''Hákon Hákonarson'' ; Norwegian: ''Håkon Håkonsson''), sometimes called Haakon the Old in contrast to his namesake son, was King of Norway from 1217 to 1263. His reign lasted for 46 y ...
’s invasion of 1263. It passed to the Dunbars, who built the present castle in about 1600. The Mackintoshes purchased it early in the 18th century, and subsequently sold it to the Duffs of Braco, Earls Fife. In about 1776 the castle was partly demolished to build Blervie Mains.
Structure
The only surviving parts of the castle are one of the projecting towers, with a little of the main block. It is a square tower, five storeys high, with a roundstaircase tower
A staircase tower or stair tower (german: Treppenturm, also ''Stiegenturm'' or ''Wendelstein'') is a tower-like wing of a building with a circular or polygonal plan that contains a stairwell, usually a helical staircase.
History
Only a few e ...
in the re-entrant angle. There are shot holes and gun loops in the walls, which are topped by a parapet
A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ...
with open rounds.
The basement, first floor and top storey are vaulted
In architecture, a vault (French ''voûte'', from Italian ''volta'') is a self-supporting arched form, usually of stone or brick, serving to cover a space with a ceiling or roof. As in building an arch, a temporary support is needed while ring ...
.
See also
*Castles in Great Britain and Ireland
Castles have played an important military, economic and social role in Great Britain and Ireland since their introduction following the Norman invasion of England in 1066. Although a small number of castles had been built in England in the 10 ...
*List of castles in Scotland
This is a list of castles in Scotland. A castle is a type of fortified structure built primarily during the Middle Ages. Scholars debate the scope of the word "castle", but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or ...
References