Careston Castle, also known as ''Caraldston Castle'', is an

L-plan An L-plan castle is a castle or tower house in the shape of an L, typically built from the 13th to the 17th century. This design is found quite frequently in Scotland, but is also seen in England, Ireland, Romania, Sardinia, and other location ...

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, on a 1,528-acre estate,Lindsay, Maurice (1986) ''The Castles of Scotland''. Constable. p.46 in Careston parish,

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 ...

. It is a category A listed building.

History

The name is said to derive from Keraldus, dempster to the

Earls of Angus The Mormaer or Earl of Angus was the ruler of the medieval Scottish province of Angus. The title, in the Peerage of Scotland, is held by the Duke of Hamilton, and is used as a courtesy title for the eldest son of the Duke's eldest son. Hist ...

at the start of the 13th century. Nothing remains of an earlier castle. The castle was built about 1582 by Sir Henry Lindsay, who became

Earl of Crawford Earl of Crawford is one of the most ancient extant titles in Great Britain, having been created in the Peerage of Scotland for Sir David Lindsay in 1398. It is the premier earldom recorded on the Union Roll. Early history Sir David Lindsay, who ...

in 1620. It was later owned successively by Sir John Stewart of Grantully, by the Skenes, by a farmer, and in 1871 bought by John Adamson, a mill owner from Blairgowrie and son of a

whaling ship A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales. Terminology The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Japa ...

owner from

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

. The property was listed for sale in October 2021. At that time, a report stated that it had been owned by the Adamson family for 149 years.

Structure

The L-plan tower originally had three

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 ...

rooms, linked by a corridor in the first floor, although one room now has had its vault removed. There is a large

scale-and-platt Stairs are a structure designed to bridge a large vertical distance between lower and higher levels by dividing it into smaller vertical distances. This is achieved as a diagonal series of horizontal platforms called steps which enable passage ...

stair to the first floor, a turnpike stair in the south west jamb, and a private stair on the north. Careston Castle is notable for its chimney-pieces. The one in the Hall has an enriched cornice, and an

overmantel The fireplace mantel or mantelpiece, also known as a chimneypiece, originated in medieval times as a hood that projected over a fire grate to catch the smoke. The term has evolved to include the decorative framework around the fireplace, and ca ...

with the Royal Arms of Scotland. There are fine chimney-pieces also in the dining-room, and the central and east bedrooms on the second floor. These chimney-pieces are thought to be derived in form from designs in

Jacques Androuet du Cerceau Jacques I Androuet du Cerceau, also given as Du Cerceau, DuCerceau, or Ducerceau (1510–1584) was a well-known French designer of architecture, ornament, furniture, metalwork and other decorative designs during the 16th century, and the founder ...

's ''Second livre'' (1561). Campbell also argues that Careston incorporates two of du Cerceau's house designs in the formation of its elevation and plan. Two wings of the building have been demolished. A report in late 2021 stated that the 15,700sq ft castle's principal accommodation consisted of "four fine reception rooms, a library, six main bedrooms and five bathrooms — laid out over the first and second floors". Much of the ground floor was being used for storage and the rooms on the third floor were unused.

References

{{reflist Houses completed in 1582 Castles in Angus, Scotland Category A listed buildings in Angus, Scotland Listed castles in Scotland