Aerial view of Ballone Castle and Ballone Castle, Boundaries

Description Aerial view of Ballone Castle and Ballone Castle, Boundaries

Date 1991

Catalogue Number SC 875419

Category On-line Digital Images

Scope and Content Ballone Castle from the east, Highland Ballone Castle stands on the coast near Portmahomack. It is a Z-plan tower house built in the mid-16th century for the Dunbars of Easter Tarbet, and later inhibited by the Mackenzie family from 1623. The castle had fallen into disrepair by the mid-18th century. Ballone was fully restored in the 1990s by architect Lachlan Stewart, and is now a family home. This shows the castle in its ruined condition before restoration. The building is composed of a central rectangular block with a circular tower to the north-west, and a square tower to the south-east. Below the circular tower is the remains of vaulted cellars added in the 17th century. These would probably have had servant's accommodation above. The rectangular enclosure (left) may have been a garden. Within the entrance in the south-east tower is a guard room and prison. Beyond this are three tunnel-vaulted rooms, probably the original kitchen and wine cellars. The whole of the first floor was occupied by a large hall, which would have been the focus of daily life in the castle. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/875419

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap