Following the launch of trove.scot in February 2025 we are now planning the retiral of some of our webservices. Canmore will be switched off on 24th June 2025. Information about the closure can be found on the HES website: Retiral of HES web services | Historic Environment Scotland
Accessing Scotland's Past Project
Event ID 561785
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Accessing Scotland's Past Project
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/561785
The lands of Makerstoun were granted to the Corbets in the mid-twelfth century, and remained in their hands until 1374, when they passed to the McDowells, later known as the MakDougalls.
It is to the MakDougalls that the earliest surviving remains at Makerstoun can probably be attributed, though much of this tower was destroyed by fire during Hertford's incursion into Scotland in 1545. In 1590, another tower-house was built upon the foundations of its predecessor, and part of this building still survives in the core of the modern mansion. Work carried out on Makerstoun House in the 1970s revealed the re-use of some fragments of carved stone which had originated in the earlier tower-house.
In 1725, the architect William Adam was commissioned to carry out alterations to the house, extending it to the north to form a simple yet elegant Georgian mansion. Further alterations took place in 1828, when the building was further extended and refronted in castellated Baronial style by the architect Archibald Elliot II.
In 1970 Makerstoun House was badly damaged by a fire, but the architects called in to restore the property, Ian G Lindsay & Partners, used this as an opportunity to restore the house to its Georgian appearance.
Text prepared by RCAHMS as part of the Accessing Scotland's Past project
