Kinnairdy Castle

Kinnairdy Castle is an early 16th century tower house, built on the site of a motte, with steep banks to the north and west, and potentially incorporating an earlier structure. Curtain walls and outbuildings to the south and east form a courtyard. Originally a five-story structure with a parapet walk and angle bartizans, two stories remain after a lowering in 1725, now topped with a pitched roof. The castle was restored and re-roofed in 1725, with a stair tower reduced in 1865 and a cap-house rebuilt around 1927. A two-story hall range, dating to the late 16th century, extends to the east, with alterations made in 1857 and further work from 1923 to 1939, including restoration.

The castle is constructed of harl pointed rubble with squared dressings and chamfered reveals. The south elevation shows a three-story, two-bay tower with windows on each floor; some have been enlarged. A three-stage stair tower adjoins the tower to the west, featuring a ground floor door and narrow windows on the first and second floors. The stair tower’s eaves are broken by a corbel course supporting the 1927 cap-house, topped with a window featuring a broad, star-studded architrave and a crowstepped gable with a star finial. A late 16th century wing, of three irregular bays, extends to the east. The ground floor has been altered, with a central door dated 1935 (although the surround is from 1935) flanked by tripartite windows installed between 1925 and 1939. The first floor has three windows, and two catslide dormers illuminate the attic. Rubble curtain walls extend to the south and east, incorporating lean-to outbuildings to the south and a turret with a square pyramidal roof.

The north elevation of the tower house is largely blind, except for a small ground floor window. The later wing has windows to its outer bays on each floor, with a modern catslide dormer in the attic. The west elevation shows the advanced stair tower, with a small window at ground level and on the third stage, and to the first and second stage on its return. Each floor of the tower house has a window. The east elevation features a modern doorway and window on the ground floor to the right, and a window on the first floor.

The windows are sash and case, with various glazing patterns. Some leaded small-pane glazing from 1925 to 1939 appears in the stair tower, cap-house, and tripartite windows. The roof is covered with grey slate, with crowstepped gables and ashlar corniced stacks on the tower house; the wing has ashlar coped skews and stacks.

Inside, the tower house features a vaulted ground floor, with some original roll-moulded fireplaces remaining and undergoing restoration as of 1990. A circa 1500 carved oak aumbry is incorporated into the modern panelling of the 1st floor hall. The later wing contains a large hall on the ground floor, with intact panelling and cornices in the first floor rooms. Adjacent outbuildings include a single-story and attic steading/stable range to the south, and a former rectangular-plan, gabled carriage house to the east, both now converted to residential use.