Gardyne Castle

{{Use British English|date=May 2022}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}

{{Infobox building

|name = Gardyne Castle

|image = Gardyne Castle Eastern Elevation.jpg

|caption = 16th century eastern wing

|map_type =

|coordinates =

|location = Angus

|location_town = Friockheim

|location_country = Scotland

|architect =

|client =

|engineer =

|construction_start_date =

|completion_date = 1568

|date_demolished =

|cost =

|structural_system =

|style =

|size =

}}

File:Gardyne Castle from SW.jpg

Gardyne Castle is a 16th-century tower house in Angus, Scotland. It is located {{convert|2|km}} south-west of Friockheim. The castle is still in use as a family home, and is protected as a Category A listed building.{{Historic Environment Scotland|num=LB11914|desc=GARDYNE CASTLE.|cat=A|access-date=26 December 2018}}

History

The house was built by the Gardyne family,{{cite web|title=Gardyne Castle|url=http://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst10554.html|work=Gazetteer for Scotland|accessdate=5 June 2010}} and an inscribed stone records the date 1568.The Gazetteer for Scotland gives the date as 1468. A further inscribed stone moved from the neighbouring home farm bears the arms of King James VI and the motto "God save the King". Together with the distinctive style of some of the architectural features, such as the conical-roofed bartizans, this suggests an attempt to link the building with Royal Stewart architecture, and with the new king, as opposed to his predecessor the deposed Mary, Queen of Scots.{{Historic Environment Scotland|cat=PLA |num=34658 |num2=NO54NE 7 |desc=Gardyne Castle|access-date=25 June 2025|fewer-links=yes}}

The family of Gardyne first acquired the lands of Garden, from which they assumed their surname, some time before the 1357, when John Garden of that ilk received from William, Earl of Ross, a "charter of the Dentown of Garthen, with pertinents, in the Sheriffdom of Forfar."{{Cite book|last=Warden|first=Alex J|title=Angus or Forfarshire, the land and people|publisher=C. Alexander & co. Dundee|year=1880|pages=71}}

In 1558 a daughter of the house married a Guthrie, from neighbouring Guthrie Castle, and their son, quarrelling with his relatives, was stabbed to death by his Gardyne cousin.{{Cite book|last=Tranter|first=Nigel|title=The Fortified House in Scotland, Volume 4|publisher=James Thin|year=1986|location=Edinburgh}}  The feud intensified with the murder of Patrick Gardyne by William Guthrie in 1578, followed shortly by the slaughter of Alexander Guthrie of that Ilk by Thomas Gardyne.{{Cite book|last=Pitcairn|title=Criminal Trials of Scotland|publisher=Bannatyne Club|year=1833|pages=102}}  The family were soon forced to dispose of the lands, with Sir Walter Rollo acquiring the barony in 1597.  The tradition in the Gardyne family was that the lands and Barony had been "wadset" or pledged to raise money in defence of the country, but the more likely cause was financial difficulties arising from the feud and consequent criminal proceedings.

The castle was acquired by James Lyell in 1682,{{Cite book|last=Jervise|title=Epitaphs & inscriptions from burial grounds & old buildings in the north-east of Scotland, with historical, biographical, genealogical, and antiquarian notes, also, an appendix of illustrative papers|year=1875–1979|location=Edinburgh, Edmonston and Douglas|pages=33}} whose descendants occupied it until 1963.

The building has been altered many times since at least 1568. The castle was remodelled and modernised (adding electricity) in 1910 by the Edinburgh architect Harold Tarbolton{{Cite web|url=http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/architect_full.php?id=100213|website=Dictionary of Scottish Architects|title=DSA Architect Biography Report}} and remains a family home.

References