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Borve Castle, also known as Castle Wearie, and ''Caisteal Bhuirgh'' in
Borve Castle, also known as Castle Wearie, and ''Caisteal Bhuirgh'' in Scottish Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...
, is a ruined 14th-century 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, to command and defend strategic points ...
, located at the south-west of the island of Benbecula
Benbecula ( ; or ) is an island of the Outer Hebrides in the Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Scotland. In the 2011 census, it had a resident population of 1,283 with a sizable percentage of Roman Catholics. It is in a zone administered by ...
, in the Western Isles
The Outer Hebrides ( ) or Western Isles ( , or ), sometimes known as the Long Isle or Long Island (), is an island chain off the west coast of mainland Scotland.
It is the longest archipelago in the British Isles. The islands form part ...
of Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
. The castle was designated as 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, visu ...
in 1993.
History
MacGibbon and Ross
David MacGibbon (2 April 1831 – 20 February 1902) and Thomas Ross (10 November 1839 – 4 December 1930) were Scottish architects. Their practice, MacGibbon and Ross was established in 1872 and continued until 1914. They are best known today f ...
attributed the building of the tower to Amie mac Ruari, wife of John of Islay, and dated it to between 1344 and 1363. It was occupied by the Macdonalds of Benbecula until the early 17th century.
Description
The ruined rubble-built three-storey
A storey (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) or story (American English), is any level part of a building with a floor that could be used by people (for living, work, storage, recreation, etc.). Plurals for the wor ...
tower measures by , and high. The walls average thick, although they narrow internally at the first- and second-storey level. The north wall has almost entirely collapsed. The tower had at least two timber floors above the basement. Its entrance was through a projecting wing in the center of the south wall which opened into the first storey.
Archaeological investigations in 2018 have revealed that the tower was built in three distinct phases. The first was a structure with narrow masonry walls in a formal style with regular courses and sandstone quoin
Quoins ( or ) are masonry blocks at the corner of a wall. Some are structural, providing strength for a wall made with inferior stone or rubble, while others merely add aesthetic detail to a corner. According to one 19th-century encyclopedia, ...
s. Next, the eastern side of the castle was reinforced with very wide walls of a moderately formal style with large stones and intermittent coursing, forming an outer skin without windows to the existing structure. Later much the same was done on the western side although in an informal manner without coursing. The western wall had many windows.
See also
* Borve Castle, Sutherland a castle of the same name which belonged to the Clan Mackay in Sutherland.References
{{coord, 57, 25, 49.97, N, 7, 22, 37.99, W, display=title Castles in the Outer Hebrides Scheduled monuments in the Outer Hebrides Benbecula