Publication Account
Date 1987
Event ID 1016875
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1016875
The tower-house known as Affleck Castle is situated on the gentle south-facing slope of the declining range of the Sidlaw Hills known as the Downie Hills. The house commanded views of the whole coastal plain from Dundee to Carnoustie and looked over the Firth of Tay to Fife and St Andrews. It is recorded that before the house was surrounded by trees it was used as a landmark by mariners entering the Firth of Tay.
Affleck was the seat of the family of Auchinleck, or Affleck, of that Ilk. The lands were held in chief from the Crown for an annual rent of one silver penny. The house appears to date from the late 15th century and, in 1471, James III confirmed a deed subscribed at Auchinleck on 16th March 1466 by David, Earl of Crawford. The first record of the existence of the tower-house is in 1501.
The accommodation provided in Affleck Castle is that normally found in a small medieval house: cellarage, common hall, lord's hall, solar and chapel. There is no kitchen and cooking must have been done in an outbuilding, possibly within the barmkin wall. The accommodation is provided in a tower of four storeys and an attic. It is described as an L-plan structure, although the secondary wing is very small and occupied by the principal staircase for most of its height There is a small mezzanine floor, entered from a mural stair from the lord's hall, above the second floor landing, and the chapel occupies this space on the third floor. '
The arched doorway is situated in the re-entrant angle. The cellars are ceiled with the floor of the common hall above. The common hall is vaulted, has three good-sized windows but lacks a fireplace or any other feature to improve the level of comfort. Above this all the floors are of wood and the rooms are well appointed. The lord's hall has provision for a dais at the north end and behind this is a handsome fireplace. It is also provided with a latrine and a large wall press. The solar, on the third floor, is a room of exceptional distinction and of such excellent proportions that despite its small size it has few equals in Scotland. It has a good fireplace, latrine, large mural closets which may have contained bunks, a wall press and a beautiful chapel situated behind a miniature chancel arch in the wing over the principal stair. The chapel is vaulted in fine ashlar and has an octagonal stoop corbelled out from the wall. The accommodation is completed by an attic over the solar and two caphouses, one over the chapel, the other over the secondary stair.
Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: Fife and Tayside’, (1987).
