Old Kincardine Castle was a 13th-century castle near

Auchterarder Auchterarder (; , meaning Upper Highland) is a town north of the Ochil Hills in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, and home to the Gleneagles Hotel. The High Street of Auchterarder gave the town its popular name of "The Lang Toun" or Long Town. The ...

Perth and Kinross Perth and Kinross (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. It is bordered by Highland (council area), Highland and Aberdeenshire to the north, Angus, Scotland, Angus, Dundee, and F ...

, Scotland. The castle was located on a promontory overlooking the glen.

History

Sir David de Graham of Cardross received the lands of Kincardine from the

Earl of Strathearn Earl or Mormaer of Strathearn is a title of Scottish nobility, referring to the region of Strathearn in southern Perthshire. Of unknown origin, the mormaers are attested for the first time in a document perhaps dating to 1115. The first known mo ...

and started construction of the castle shortly afterwards. It was formed of a quadrangle, with walls thick, surrounded by a dry ditch on three sides and a fortified main gate and drawbridge.

King Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 1254 ...

stayed at Auchterarder during the

First War of Scottish Independence The First War of Scottish Independence was the first of a series of wars between Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland. It lasted from the English invasion of Scotland (1296), English invasion of Scotland in 1296 until ...

in 1296. Queen Mary of Scotland stayed at Kincardine on a journey during 1562. In 1579,

John Stewart, 4th Earl of Atholl John Stewart, 4th Earl of Atholl (died 25 April 1579), called the Fair, was a Scottish nobleman and courtier. He was favoured by Mary, Queen of Scots, but later turned against her. Biography Stewart was the son of John Stewart, 3rd Earl of Ath ...

, Chancellor of Scotland, stayed at Kincardine on his way from Stirling, whereupon he suddenly took ill and died at the castle. Claims that he was poisoned were not substantiated. The castle held out for ten days under artillery fire from the forces of John Middleton, during the

Wars of the Three Kingdoms The Wars of the Three Kingdoms were a series of conflicts fought between 1639 and 1653 in the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland, then separate entities in a personal union un ...

, until the well failed, forcing the garrison to surrender.

John Graham, 4th Earl of Montrose John Graham, 4th Earl of Montrose (1573–1626) was a Scottish nobleman, Earl of Montrose from 1608 to the 1620s. He was for a time Lord President of the Privy Council of Scotland. He was a Catholic, as the English ambassador William Asheby no ...

, died at the castle in 1626, and was buried nearby at the Church of Aberuthven. The castle was dismantled by the

Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll (March 160727 May 1661) was a Scottish nobleman, politician, and peer. The ''de facto'' head of Scotland's government during most of the conflict of the 1640s and 1650s known as the Wars of the Three K ...

in 1645. Only small fragments remain, primarily a gable wall, long and high. In 1660, its stones were used to build a new local church in Auchterarder, the tower of which still remains. The new Kincardine Castle was built nearby in the 19th century by James Johnston, in the

Gothic style Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved from Romanesque ar ...

of architecture.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Old Kincardine Castle, Auchterarder Ruined castles in Perth and Kinross Clan Graham