Monzie Castle is a
castellated mansion, near Monzie in
Perth and Kinross, Scotland that incorporates 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 ...
, early 17th-century building that was enlarged in 1797–1800. It is a category A
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 ...
.
The current house dates from 1908 following the destruction of the later portion of the mansion by fire, although the exterior of the original building is almost intact.
History
Margaret Scott, heiress of Monzie, deeded three-quarters of the lands in 1613 to her son, James Graeme, who later built a house on the property.
[Gifford, p. 540] It may have incorporated an earlier
fortalice
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
as there are
garderobe
Garderobe is a historic term for a room in a medieval castle. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' gives as its first meaning a store-room for valuables, but also acknowledges "by extension, a private room, a bed-chamber; also a privy".
The word der ...
s in the walls of the west wing.
The estate was sold to Colin Campbell of Lagvinshoch in 1666 and his descendant,
General
A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...
Alexander Campbell,
MP, enlarged the house by adding a much larger castellated building on its east side in 1797–1800 that was designed by
John Patterson. The house was inherited by Charles Maitland-Makgill-Crichton in 1900. The interior of the addition was gutted by a fire in 1908 and rebuilt by Sir
Robert Lorimer
Sir Robert Stodart Lorimer, KBE (4 November 1864 – 13 September 1929) was a prolific Scottish architect and furniture designer noted for his sensitive restorations of historic houses and castles, for new work in Scots Baronial and Got ...
over the next four years in his own style.
Description
The original house was a rubble-walled three-storey building built in a L-shape. The second-storey windows rose through the eaves to
pediment
Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape.
Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds.
A pedim ...
ed
dormerheads. A similar pediment surrounds the entrance on the west side. Its
lintel bears three weathered heraldic shields, the initials of Graeme and his wife Marjory, and the date 1634, presumably its date of construction. A
scale-and-platt staircase gives access to the upper storeys. A large fireplace on the ground floor has a
swagged lintel carved with a heraldic panel and the date 1634.
[Gifford, pp. 540–542]
World Scout Moot
In 1939 Monzie Castle was the site of the 3rd
World Rover Moot, attended by 3,500 Scouts from 42 nations.
Gallery
File:Scotia Depicta - Monzie -Plate-.png, Sketch of Monzie Castle by John Claude Nattes, 1804
References
Bibliography
*{{cite book , last1=Gifford , first1=John , title=Perth and Kinross , date=2007 , publisher=Yale University Press , location=New Haven , isbn=978-0-300-10922-1, series=The Buildings of Scotland
Castles in Perth and Kinross
Category A listed buildings in Perth and Kinross
Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes