Buchanan Castle

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Buchanan Castle in the 1890s

Buchanan Castle is the ruin of a country house west of the village of Drymen in the Scottish county of Stirlingshire (now the administrative division of Stirling ). The house was built for James Graham, 4th Duke of Montrose , in the years 1852-1858 as a family seat and was in use until 1925. It was intended to replace Buchanan Auld House , which stood about half a mile northwest, but which was burned down in 1852. The old house and the surrounding area belonged to the Buchanan clan , but fell to the Graham clan at the end of the 17th century . The roof of Buchanan Castle was removed in 1954 and has since fallen into disrepair, but remains the seat of Clan Graham.

history

The area on which the two ruins stand today had been in the possession of the Buchanan clan since 1231 at the latest, but their direct main line ended in 1682. Cousins ​​of the Buchanan family, the Du Bruls , remained. The Buchanan clan chiefs had amassed large debts and so the 22nd clan chief, John Buchanan , had to gradually sell the clan's lands to satisfy the creditors. The property was bought by James Graham, 3rd Marquess of Montrose (1657-1684), whose son was made Duke of Montrose in 1707 . The Montrose family lived in the existing Buchanan Auld House and this later replaced Mugdock Castle as the seat of Clan Graham because it was thought that this house was more like a marquess. The original house was fundamentally rebuilt around 1724.

Buchanan Castle 2006

In 1852 Buchanan Auld House was destroyed by fire and the Duke commissioned architect William Burn to design Buchanan Castle to replace it. Burn designed an extravagant country house in the Scottish Baronial Style, including a residential tower with an L-shaped floor plan in a tangle of tourelles , watch towers and stepped gables . The new house was built in 1852-1858 about 800 meters southeast of the old house. The Dukes stayed at Buchanan Castle until 1925 when they sold it. In the 1930s it was converted into a hotel and a golf course was created on the property. Plans for residential development on the property were thwarted by World War II . During this time the country house was requisitioned. It was used as a hospital during the war. One of the patients was Rudolf Hess , who was brought here after his flight to Scotland in 1941. After the war, the building served as the Army School of Education for a short time . The roof was removed in 1954 and the outbuildings demolished. A number of residential houses were later built in the gardens and parks of Buchanan Castle.

In 2002 and 2004 there were proposals to rebuild the house as apartments, but both proposals were not approved. Historic Scotland has listed the building as a Category B Historic Building and is on the Scottish Buildings-at-Risk Register . The property was added to the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes , but was removed from it in 2016. The walls of the house are preserved in their full height and are considered to be in good condition. The ruins are more and more overgrown by trees and other plants. They are surrounded by a fence.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Listed Buildings: Buchanan Auld House . Historic Environment Scotland. Retrieved March 23, 2017.
  2. ↑ a b c Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes: Buchanan Castle . Historic Environment Scotland. Retrieved March 23, 2017.
  3. ↑ a b c d Buchanan Castle . In: Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland . Retrieved March 23, 2017.
  4. ↑ Listed Building - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .

Web links

Commons : Buchanan Castle  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 56 ° 3 ′ 56 ″  N , 4 ° 28 ′ 19 ″  W.