Leys Castle

Leys Castle is a substantial Tudor Gothic mansion built in 1833 by Samuel Beasley for Colonel John Baillie, MP. It exhibits both Gothic and Romanesque architectural details. The building is two storeys high with a raised basement, and is distinguished by a central square tribune tower rising a single storey above the roofline. The main facades are on the south-east (entrance) and north-west (garden) sides.

The exterior is constructed of polished and tooled ashlar. The entrance front features a turreted design, with octagonal turrets projecting outwards to a porte-cochere with tall, slender turrets in between. The garden and side elevations incorporate full-height canted bays, with an oriel window to the garden front, accentuated by diminutive lantern finials. Double string courses run between the ground and first floors. Windows are varied, primarily hoodmoulded, with some featuring four-centred arched pointed heads, seven-light tripartite and bipartite arrangements with Y-tracery, and multi-pane glazing, some with intersecting astragals. The corniced and crenellated wallheads conceal shallow piended slate roofs, and symmetrical batteries of tall stacks are present, along with original rainwater goods featuring embossed boarheads as decorative details. Garden terraces, complete with carved ashlar balustrades fronting the south-east return elevation, descend to the garden. A terrace fronting the raised basement on the north-west side was lowered in 1930 to improve internal light and reveal the complete window arrangement.

The interior features a wide entrance hall with an ashlar chimney piece displaying chevron detailing and an original hearth. A central stairhall extends through a galleried tower over three storeys, showcasing decorative corbels and a cusped balustrade. The imperial stair has a cusped ashlar balustrade and a tall chimney piece with chevron and ball decoration at the half landing. The drawing room is richly decorated in white and gold, with ogee doorpieces, panelled doors and window shutters, Gothic detailing to the white marble chimney piece, and a decorative ribbed ceiling with a central boss. The library is an octagonal room with grained walls and ceilings, retaining original bookshelves, and exhibiting some gilded festoons to the ceiling and a central boss. A marble chimney piece is also present. The dining room displays grained walls and a coffered ceiling, with moulded ceiling joists supported by shallow corbelled braces, a black marble chimney piece, and ogee doorpieces. First-floor rooms open off a galleried corridor, and feature plaster cornices and fine marble chimney pieces.

Colonel Baillie's arms are carved on the porte-cochere, and boarheads are embossed on the rainwater heads. A small plaque by the main entrance commemorates the mansion's use as an auxiliary hospital during 1914-1918. Hopeman, Moray, stone was used throughout the construction, including for the staircase balustrade. Leys was historically part of a detached portion of the parish of Croy and Dalcross.