Castle Menzies
| Castle Menzies | ||
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 Castle Menzies |
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| Creation time : | sixteenth century | |
| Castle type : | Niederungsburg | |
| Conservation status: | Receive | |
| Standing position : | Gentry | |
| Geographical location | 56 ° 37 '21.9 " N , 3 ° 54' 18.6" W | |
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Castle Menzies (obsolete: Weem Castle ) in Scotland is the ancestral seat of the Clan Menzies . It is slightly west of the small village of Weem , near Aberfeldy in the Highlands of Perthshire .
history
The 16th century castle, restored by the Menzies Clan Society, was the seat of the Menzies clan chiefs for over 400 years. Strategically well located, it was involved in the turbulent history of the Highlands. Charles Edward Stuart , the heir to the throne of the Stuarts , spent two nights at the castle on his way to the Battle of Culloden in 1746 .
The restoration of the old part of the castle involved the demolition of a badly dilapidated wing from the 18th century. A large Victorian ballroom was preserved.
The restored castle is an example of the architectural shift between an earlier tradition of sturdy fortifications and a later, more easily defended form of châteaux . The walls consist of random rubble, originally rough plaster, but the corner stones, turrets, door and window frames are finely carved blue ashlar stones. This attractive and extremely weather-resistant stone was also used for the architectural details and monuments near the old church of Weem, which was built by the Menzies and contains their memorials and tombs. A wedding stone above the original entrance was installed by James Menzies in 1571 to document his marriage to Barbara Stewart, daughter of the Count of Atholl.
Maharajah Dalip Singh , last Maharajah of the Sikh Empire , lived in Castle Menzies between 1855 and 1858, after his exile from Punjab in 1854. He was officially the ward of Sir John Spencer Logan and Lady Logan, who loaned him the castle.
literature
- Charles McKean: The Scottish Chateau: the country house of Renaissance Scotland . Sutton Publishing, Stroud 2001, ISBN 0-750-92323-7 , p. 12.
Individual evidence
- ↑ McKean (2001) p. 12.
