Affleck Castle, also known as Auchenleck Castle, is a tall

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 15th century, north of

Monifieth Monifieth is a town and former police burgh in the council area of Angus, Scotland. It is situated on the north bank of the Firth of Tay on the east coast. In 2016, the population of Monifieth was estimated at 8,110, making it the fifth larges ...

and west of

Monikie Monikie is a village and civil parish in Angus, Scotland, north-east of Dundee. History The village grew from small beginnings as just one of many hamlets. The other large village in the parish is Newbigging. Because of the siting of the Railwa ...

Parish Church, Angus, Scotland.Lindsay, Maurice (1986) ''The Castles of Scotland''. Constable. p.46 It is a

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 ...

. It is not open to the public.

History

The castle was built on the lands of the Auchenlecks of that Ilk held since 1471.The Castles of Scotland by Martin Coventry ISBN 1-899874-00-3 From the mid-17th century it belonged to a family of

Reid Reid is a surname of Scottish origin. It means "red". People with the surname * Alan Reid (disambiguation) * Alex Reid (disambiguation), includes Alexander Reid * Amanda Reid, Australian Paralympic athlete * Amanda Reid (taxonomist), Australia ...

s, who forfeited the castle in 1746 because of their activities as

Jacobites Jacobite means follower of Jacob or James. Jacobite may refer to: Religion * Jacobites, followers of Saint Jacob Baradaeus (died 578). Churches in the Jacobite tradition and sometimes called Jacobite include: ** Syriac Orthodox Church, sometime ...

. It has not been occupied since 1760, when a new mansion was built.

Structure

Affleck Castle is a well-preserved free-standing rectangular tower of four storeys and a parapeted garret. It is tall, and has thick rubble walls, with several mural rooms. A few steps down from the entrance is the basement, which is sub-divided. The hall, which is on the first floor, has a vaulted ceiling; this supports a withdrawing room. Above the main staircase is an entresol bedroom, almost square, reached by an eleven-step staircase in the east wall. The stairs lead from the hall. The withdrawing room has a spy-hole into the hall below. This would have allowed all movement to the main turnpike stair to be observed. The room has window seats, wall closets, and a shafted fireplace. A step up from this room leads to a circular oratory, equipped with

aumbry An ambry (or ''almery'', ''aumbry''; from the medieval form ''almarium'', cf. Lat. ''armārium'', "a place for keeping tools"; cf. O. Fr. ''aumoire'' and mod. armoire) is a recessed cabinet in the wall of a Christian church for storing sacred vesse ...

, piscine, holy-water

stoup A holy water font or stoup is a vessel containing holy water which is generally placed near the entrance of a church. It is often placed at the base of a crucifix or religious representation. It is used in the Catholic Church, Anglican Churches ...

and stone candle-holders. This room is also vaulted. There is a bedroom in each of the upper floors. A projection by the door, with a square

cap-house A cap-house (sometimes written cap house or caphouse) is a small watch room, built at the top of a spiral staircase, often giving access to a parapet on the roof of a tower house or castle. They provided protection from the elements by enclosin ...

, houses the stair, and there is a square turret over the south-west angle. There are two devices for dropping missiles or liquids on attackers: one over the arched door; and the other on the west front, while the ground floor is equipped with

gun loops An embrasure (or crenel or crenelle; sometimes called gunhole in the domain of gunpowder-era architecture) is the opening in a battlement between two raised solid portions ( merlons). Alternatively, an embrasure can be a space hollowed ou ...

References

{{Authority control Castles in Angus, Scotland Listed castles in Scotland Scheduled Ancient Monuments in Angus Tower houses in Scotland