Erchless Castle

Erchless Castle is a roughly L-shaped tower house dating to around 1600, with significant alterations made in the late 18th century and a later baronial rear wing added in 1895. The exterior is harled with dressings of tooled and polished ashlar.

The original tower house is three and four storeys high, featuring a stair turret set into the southwest re-entrant angle, which has a corbelled base; a similar turret is located at the northwest angle. Bartisans (turrets projecting from the corners) are present at the southwest and northeast corners. The main entrance door is set within a projecting south stair tower. The jambs of the door have been re-cut, and it is fitted with a late 19th-century studded plank door and ornate cast-iron hinges. Arrow slits remain visible in the south elevation; the windows have been regularized and enlarged.

The baronial rear wing was added later, featuring canted bay windows, an oriel (a projecting bay window), crenellated walltops, an angle bartizan, and windows with two and four panes of glass. External features include an armorial panel and crowstep gables, topped by slate roofs.

Inside, little of the original interior remains, except for partially blocked wheel stairs. A circular stair, dating from 1790, rises the full height of a projecting single bay tower, and features turned wooden balusters, a polished wooden handrail, and a decorative plaster roundel in the ceiling. Also dating from 1790 are fielded panel doors and a marble chimney piece. The 1895 rear wing contains later interior fittings, including panelled dados, a large wooden staircase with a carved balustrade and newel finials, panelled doors, moulded door jambs, and a polished ashlar chimney piece in the inner hall.

Erchless Castle has historically been the traditional seat of the Chisholm family. Thomas Muirison, an architect, carried out additions and alterations to the castle and its grounds between 1814 and 1815, costing £3,060.5.10d for William Chisholm of Chisholm.