Archaeology Notes

Event ID 712827

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/712827

NT16SE 4.00 16741 62782

NT16SE 4.01 NT 1666 6277 Buildings

(NT 1674 6278) Bavelaw Castle (NR)

OS 6" map (1961)

The general appearance of Bavelaw Castle, which has lately been restored indicates a date in the early 17th century, but almost certainly there is a more ancient nucleus, as witness the number and style of the gun-loops, the wall thickness, and the very small windows (N Tranter 1962). It is L-shaped, the harled rubble walls rising to three storeys and an attic. A circular tower projects at the NE angle of the main block, and another small wing extends at the SE angle; it is apparently a later construction. The ground floor is vaulted and the N vaulted chamber is at a lower level, the difference in levels being repeated above. This is probably the nucleus of the original tower, which may date from the 16th century. The N first floor chamber is known as Queen Mary's Room, the castle traditionally being a hunting seat of Queen Mary and James VI (Name Book 1852).

RCAHMS 1929, visited 1920; D MacGibbon and T Ross 1889

Photographed by the RCAHMS in 1980.

(Undated) information in NMRS.