Culcreuch Castle is a Scottish castle close to the village of

Fintry Fintry is a small riverside village in Stirlingshire, central Scotland. Landscape The village of Fintry sits on the strath of the Endrick Water in a valley between the Campsie Fells and the Fintry Hills. The name Fintry is said to have derive ...

, near

Loch Lomond Loch Lomond (; gd, Loch Laomainn - 'Lake of the Elms'Richens, R. J. (1984) ''Elm'', Cambridge University Press.) is a freshwater Scottish loch which crosses the Highland Boundary Fault, often considered the boundary between the lowlands of Ce ...

. It had been the home of the Barons of Culcreuch since 1699. In the 1980s the castle was converted into a hotel, which it was run as until early 2020 when it was closed to the public by the American owners thus ending over 700 years of history. It had been until January 2020 one of the most continually inhabited Castles in Central Scotland.

History

Culcreuch Castle was built in 1296 by Maurice Galbraith. It was the clan seat of

Clan Galbraith Clan Galbraith is a Scottish clan. The clan does not have a chief recognised by the Lord Lyon King of Arms. Because of this, the clan is considered an armigerous clan, and as such Clan Galbraith has no standing under Scots Law. The clan-name of ...

from 1320 to 1624, when it was sold to a cousin, Alexander Seton of

Gargunnock Gargunnock is a small village in the Stirling council area, west of Stirling, in Scotland. The census population was 912. It is situated on the south edge of the Carse of Stirling, at the foot of the Gargunnock Hills, part of the Campsie Fells ...

, to settle a financial debt. In 1632, it was purchased by Robert Napier, a younger son of John Napier, the 8th Laird of Merchiston. The Napier family held the estate for five generations. The castle was used to garrison Oliver Cromwell’s troops in 1654. In 1796, the castle was sold to Alexander Spiers of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, who built a cotton mill and a distillery in

. It was sold in 1890 to J. C. Dunwaters, then again in 1901 to Walter Menzies. It passed into the hands of Hercules Robinson in the 1970s, the last of that line of the Menzies family. It was sold in 1984 to Arthur Haslam, who operated the castle as a hotel. In 2007, ownership was transferred to a holding company in Los Angeles, who took the decision to close the castle and business in 2020 ending over 700 years of continuous habitation.

Design

Culcreuch is a rectangular

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 ...

, with three stories and an attic, 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 ...

and slate roof. The north and east extensions to the original tower were built after 1721 by the Napiers, and match the original tower.

References

External links

Official site

{{Coord, 56.06193, -4.21904, type:landmark_region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(NS6193287675), display=title Castles in Stirling (council area) Category A listed buildings in Stirling (council area) Listed castles in Scotland Clan Napier