Publication Account
Date 1987
Event ID 1016859
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1016859
Glamis Castle is one of the finest examples of a large medieval tower-house extended and remodelled to the proportion and general appearance of a palace. It is the hereditary seat of the Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, the birthplace of Princess Margaret, and a favourite holiday home of Princess Elizabeth prior to her becoming Queen.
The early history of Glamis Castle is somewhat obscure, but at the end of the 16th century it took the form of a four-storey L-plan tower-house in which three of the four floors were vaulted. In 1606, Lord Glamis was created Earl of Kinghorne and immediately began the remodelling of the Castle. A large square wing was erected on the south-east angle of the original tower-house. The original building was heightened and enriched, and a large stair tower was constructed in the re-entrant angle of the old tower giving it a new scale and presence. The architect for this work may have been William Schaw, Master of the King's Works. The 1st Earl died in 1615, leaving the work incomplete but it was continued by the 2nd Earl who acted as his own architect. He built the wing on the north-west angle in 1620 thereby giving the building a superfIcial appearance of symmetry.
Later the Earl took a commission in the Covenanting Army under the Marquis of Montrose and spent his fortune purchasing arms to the extent that he eventually borrowed against most of his holdings. On his death, the estate was fIlled £1,000 by Oliver Cromwell for the Earl's activities with the Covenanters.
He had also been inclined to lend money to his mends without security and when the four year old Patrick Lyon succeeded as 3rd Earl ofKinghorne in 1646, the estate was in very poor condition. This state of affairs continued until Lord Kinghorne completed his studies at St Andrews University in 1660 and set about restoring the family fortunes. Glamis Castle was at that time almost denuded of furniture and the family's second home, Castle Lyon formerly and now Castle Huntly (NO 301290), was uninhabitable. He began the restoration of Castle Lyon immediately, living there until 1670 when he moved to Glamis. The Glamis restorations began in 1671 and were completed in 1689. The story of this remarkable achievement is recorded in a diary known as the Glamis Book of Record.
In 1677, Lord Kinghome was granted the present family title of Earl of Strathmore and Kinghome, Viscount Lyon, Baron Glamis, Tannadice, Sidlaw and Strath Dichty.
Work on the castle continued through the following centuries and a letter from James Menzies, Lindertis, gives an account of the building work carried out on the estate in the year 1774. The work includes: re-roofIllg two courts at the castle; plastering the servants' rooms and the stair between the kitchen and the great hall; taking down the west wing of the castle; inserting a new drain under that wing and rebuilding to fIrst-floor level; levelling the ground in front of the castle; building a gatehouse at the head of the approach; putting up an old gate near the church; rebuilding the Gladiator Gate at the Kirriemuir road entrance; defending the Glamis Bum; building three large houses at the west end of the town of Glamis. The rest of the list deals with agricultural buildings, but it gives some impression of the constant activity on a large estate.
Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: Fife and Tayside’, (1987).
