Mains Castle, Caird Park, Dundee

Mains Castle, situated within Caird Park in Dundee, began as a hunting lodge around 1460 and was largely constructed in 1562. The top stage of the tower was rebuilt in 1630, and the east wing was remodelled in the early 18th century. The castle was restored from dereliction in the early to mid-1980s. It is a rubble-built structure, likely once harled.

The main hall features cellars below, bedchambers above, and what was formerly a servants’ attic. The north elevation displays a blocked door and three gunloops at basement level. Two blocked roll-moulded windows are visible on the hall front. Two gabletted windows, conjecturally restored, pierce the eaves. Crow-stepped gables are topped with gable end stacks. Windows are placed asymmetrically on the west gable. A modern, rubble-built addition provides access for a fire escape at the east gable. The courtyard elevation features two large and one small window at hall level. A cellar door, likely formed around 1630, is also present. Two wallhead dormers, originally transomed and rebuilt with a crow-stepped gable adjoining the tower’s newel stair, are also notable.

A square-section tower, 70 feet tall, is situated at the southwest angle of the hall. A renewed spiral stair, with a barrel vault at the second stage, is accessed via a roll-moulded door; a newel stair corbels out at the northeast angle of the tower. The fifth stage of the tower was rebuilt in 1630 above a corbel table, and each face is finished with a gable and a flat finial or stack, incorporating iron ties.

The west wall incorporates the gable of an earlier house at its northern end, with blocked openings. The parapet is corbelled out, although the crenellation is now missing. A curved northwest angle is also corbelled out to a bartizan. Corbels of a similar bartizan are positioned above an arched, roll-moulded entrance, formerly dated 1562. The southeast angle was rebuilt to accommodate a taller building, since demolished, with two windows and part of a third window still surviving. Lean-to buildings placed between the wall and the tower have been removed.

The east wing’s kitchen range features an elevation dating to the 16th century. The original roll-moulded windows on the first floor are central and to the left; the right-hand window is a partial restoration. A door is positioned to the left. The courtyard elevation was rebuilt in the early 18th century, presenting a four-window frontage. A stair door to the right carries an inscription dated 1582 and a Renaissance-detailed carved panel. The roof has a piended southern end with a ridge stack.

The south wing has largely been demolished; only the inner courtyard wall survives at ground level, with a doorway and a blocked window. The roofs have been reslated, and modern small-paned sash and case windows are in place.