Invermark Castle is an oblong
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 ...
dating from the 16th century, at the east of
Loch Lee,
Angus, Scotland
Angus ( sco, Angus; gd, Aonghas) is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland, a registration county and a lieutenancy area. The council area borders Aberdeenshire, Dundee City and Perth and Kinross. Main industries include agr ...
.
[Lindsay, Maurice (1986) ''The Castles of Scotland''. Constable. p.292] It is near the head of
Glen Esk.
History
The present castle is on the site of a 14th-century castle.
The castle belonged to the
Lindsays of
Crawford
Crawford may refer to:
Places Canada
* Crawford Bay Airport, British Columbia
* Crawford Lake Conservation Area, Ontario
United Kingdom
* Crawford, Lancashire, a small village near Rainford, Merseyside, England
* Crawford, South Lanarkshire, a ...
. It was designed to control
Highland
Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...
marauders. It was here that
David Lindsay, 9th Earl of Crawford
David Lindsay, 9th Earl of Crawford (died 10 September 1558) was a Scottish peer and Member of Parliament.
First known as David Lindsay of Edzell, he inherited the earldom from David Lindsay, 8th Earl of Crawford by nomination. His second wife ...
died in 1558.
[ The present castle was built in the 16th century, and heightened in the early 17th century.][ The castle was abandoned in 1803.][
]
Structure
The 16th-century castle was a three-storey structure, having a corbel
In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the s ...
led 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 parapet walk.[ The additions were another storey and a ]garret
A garret is a habitable attic, a living space at the top of a house or larger residential building, traditionally, small, dismal, and cramped, with sloping ceilings. In the days before elevators this was the least prestigious position in a bu ...
, and a two-storey angle-tower.[ The castle walls have rounded corners. Two massive chimney-stacks have window-openings giving the garret light.][
The entrance, at first floor level, was reached by a movable timber bridge or stair.][ The entrance, a rounded arch,][ which still has an iron yett, led to the hall, to which a small room is attached. A wheel stair was the only access to the vaulted basement. The turnpike stair by which access could be gained to the upper floors, which were also subdivided, no longer exists.][
The entrance to the castle is barred and well above ground level, making the interior virtually inaccessible to visitors.
There are foundations of outbuildings to the east and south of the tower; material known to have been robbed from the site to build the parish church probably came from here.]Scheduled monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.
The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...
.
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 1050 ...
*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 o ...
References
{{coord , 56.9115, N, 2.9176, W, display=title
External links
Invermark Castle Virtual Tour
Castles in Angus, Scotland
Listed castles in Scotland
Scheduled Ancient Monuments in Angus
Tower houses in Scotland