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Plean Tower, also known as Cock-a-bendy Castle, Mengie Castle, Menzies Castle and Plane Castle, is located around from
Plean Tower, also known as Cock-a-bendy Castle, Mengie Castle, Menzies Castle and Plane Castle, is located around from Plean
Plean is a village, in the Stirling council area of central Scotland, located on the main A9 road from Falkirk. At the 2001 census, Plean had a population of 1,740. Plean has some historic buildings, some council houses and an estate.
Landmar ...
, in Stirling
Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...
, central 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 ...
. It comprises a small 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 ...
probably dating from the 15th century, and an adjoining 16th-century manor house.Lindsay, Maurice (1986) ''The Castles of Scotland''. Constable. p.399
History
Robert Bruce
Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventuall ...
granted the barony Barony may refer to:
* Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron
* Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron
* Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...
of Plean, or Plane, to John d’Erth soon after 1314. The castle was probably built by Lord Somerville
Lord Somerville is a title in the Peerage of Scotland which is subject to a number of ambiguities. The date of creation is not known with certainty but it was probably created about 1435 for Thomas Somerville, Justiciar of Scotland. The title ...
, who acquired the lands of Plean in 1449, through marriage.
An adjoining "manor house" was built in about 1528. In 1643 James Somervell, 8th Lord of Plane, sold the barony and lands to meet debts. It passed to the Nicholsons and the Elphinstones, but both the tower and the manor fell into disrepair. During the 1745 rebellion the Jacobite troops used the property.
Sir David Menzies restored the buildings in 1908, but by the 1930s they were again no longer in use. It was rebuilt from ruins by Nancy and John Patrick Wright and their sons in 1991-1997 to form a home and holiday accommodation.
Structure
Plean Castle originally had three stories and a garret, with parapet corbelling. In its rebuilt 1990s form there is a "great hall" in the tower with painted ceiling beams and a large fireplace. The adjoining modern "manor house" is connected to the tower by a wooden walkway and is built over a vaulted basement surviving from the 1528 manor house. It is acategory B listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
.
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