Bellister Castle

Bellister Castle comprises a ruined tower house and an adjoining occupied house. The ruined section likely began as a 13th-century hall house, with a 14th-century tower, possibly a solar, added to the west, and was altered around 1600. The occupied house dates to 1669, and may incorporate earlier medieval fabric in its lower courses. Significant alterations occurred around 1826 by John Dobson and again around 1890, with partial rebuilding between 1901 and 1905 following a fire.

The ruined tower house is constructed of coursed rubble with dressed stone, and is now roofless. It comprises two builds. The original north and west walls stand two and three storeys high, while the south wall has partially collapsed and the east wall is largely destroyed. A projecting north-west corner features alternating quoins, and a fragment of a spiral stair is located near the south-west corner. A narrower tower was added to the west, also with projecting corners. The west tower has fragmentary window openings on the north and a window with a double-roll moulding set high on the west. A fragment of a garderobe is visible on the partly-collapsed south wall.

The occupied house, constructed of squared and snecked sandstone, is largely of the 19th century and has mainly 2- and 3-light mullioned windows and embattled parapets. The north front has a recessed centre with projecting wings. The central three-bay section is three storeys high, and may contain a re-set, moulded, ogee-headed doorway and a 1669 datestone. A projecting tower, dating from around 1890 and adjoining the ruined section, is present on the west, alongside a single-storey wing projecting from the front. A projecting east wing, built in the early 19th century, is two storeys high and has flanking corner turrets, cross windows, and a later three-storey, semi-octagonal tower on the north-west corner. The two-storey, three-bay east return features a projecting tower with a pointed doorway, flanking elaborate oriel windows, and projecting corners. The south front also has a recessed three-storey, three-bay central section and towers on the west and east, with projecting corners and turrets on the east tower. The interior was refitted in the early 20th century.