Birse Castle

Birse Castle is a tower house dating back to around 1600, with significant restoration work carried out by George Bennett Mitchell in 1905, and further additions and alterations by Dr William Kelly in 1930. It is a three-storey and attic structure arranged around a Z-shaped plan, constructed from finely finished pink granite rubble with dressed margins. The castle features boarded timber doors, long and short dressings, key corbelling to the angle turrets, a roll-moulded eaves course to the turrets, and crowstepped gables.

The south elevation is asymmetrical, with three bays. It contains a small bipartite window at ground floor centre, flanked to the left by an arrow slit. Regular fenestration is visible to the ground and first floors of the two bays to the left, with a round-arched niche centrally positioned, and an angle turret to the outer left featuring a window and three elliptical openings below the eaves course. A circular angle tower corbelled to square to the right bay is dated “19 AC 30” (Annie Cowdray). A ground floor door is surmounted by a heraldic panel bearing a thistle, rose and crown. Irregularly placed arrow slits feature leaded diamond-pane glazing. The second and attic floors have regular fenestration, while the gabled right return has an irregular appearance and includes a cheese press at ground floor. An angle turret to the re-entrant angle to the right also displays regular fenestration and elliptical openings below the eaves. A 1930 addition adjoins the outer right side.

The east elevation, largely obscured by the 1930 wing, was subject to restoration in 1905 and is near symmetrical. It has an advanced gabled two-bay wing with a single window off-centre to the right of the ground floor, and regular fenestration to the ground floor. A tooled heraldic panel is centrally positioned on the third floor, with a window set in the gablehead. Two-storey angle turrets are positioned to the left and right. The return has regular fenestration to the ground, first, and second floors. A single-storey addition to the outer right includes a two-leaf door flanked by narrow openings and a gabled section with steps leading to the rear.

The north elevation is asymmetrical, featuring a gabled bay to the outer right, irregular door and window openings, and a single-storey addition adjoining boundary walls. A covered porch adjoins the main block.

The west elevation is also asymmetrical, with four bays, the right two being gabled. A panelled timber door is flanked to the left by a window in the bay to the outer right, at ground floor. Regular fenestration is present on the first floor, with a window off-centre to the left of the gablehead. Symmetrically placed angle turrets are to the left and right. Two recessed bays to the left have near-regular fenestration to the ground, first, and second floors, with a two-pane skylight to the attic.

The castle has a variety of small-pane replacement timber sash and case windows. The roofs are grey slate with stone ridges, and conical roofs with lead spherical finials adorn the turrets. A decorative ironwork weathervane is positioned on the re-entrant turret to the south. Coped gablehead stacks with circular cans are present, along with cast-iron rainwater goods.

The interior was not inspected in 1999.

Battered granite rubble boundary walls enclose the site to the north, south, and east. Decorative angle bastions decorate the south wall, and stone steps lead to the south and east.