Denmyline Castle
I almost didn't convince Mark to stop for this one - just up the road is a small ruined house, and he hadn't seen the actual tower house (which sits in a yard) and thought I was just going to tramp through a broken-down modern building. Hah!
the castle is cruciform in plan and quite ruinous
16th Century tower house
Denmyline is a small, three storey tower with a ruined attic. It has a corbelled-out parapet on one gable only. The tower is roughly cross-shaped, with a central tower on one side matched by a smaller stair tower on the other side of the main block. The main tower is 12.4m x 7.2m, with small turret on the sw side.
There are large windows in the smaller wing. The entrance is at the bottom of the stair tower. The upper parts of the castle contined two bedrooms, which is fairly common. However, the first-storey hall, instead of being a long room the full size of the tower, is divided almost equally into two rooms, each with large windows. Above that, ther is a small room tucked into top floor of the stair tower.
a small corbelled out turret in the angle of the towers
The castle had a large walled courtyard, of which one small round corner tower remains. A dovecot is also nearby, with a dated linten from 1706.
Ownership
The Balfours owned the property from 1452 until 1710. THe lands were gifted to John Balfour in c1500 by James IV, and James V gave Patrick Balfour a charter for the lands that required him to build a hall and offices here.
The family is primarily known for the actions of Sir James Balfour in the 17th century - he was a scholar who compiled the manuscripts and documents that are the core of much of Scottish history. His brother founded the first botanical garden in Edinburgh.
the interior of the tower is mostly gone, filled with trees!
only one end of the tower has a parapet