Archaeology Notes

Event ID 688597

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/688597

NO43SW 18 41092 33018.

(NO 4109 3300) Mains Castle (NR)

OS 6" map, (1969)

Mains Castle, formerly Fintry Castle, is 16th century, but an earlier castle is said to have stood on this site.

The existing building is in the form of a courtyard with ranges of buildings on the N, E and S. The W side is enclosed by a wall containing the entrance gateway. The principal and earliest buildings are those on the N side with a square tower of remarkable height, containing the entrance doorway. The eastern range has a more modern appearance and may date from the end of the 16th century. The buildings of the S range are almost entirely demolished, but are not likely to be part of the early part of the castle.

D MacGibbon and T Ross 1887-92.

Mains Castle is deserted and ruinous although the tower is in good condition and the E range is still roofed. A plaque states that the castle was built about 1550 by Sir David Graham in whose family it remained until the 19th century, whereafter it was allowed to fall into ruin.

Visited by OS (J L D) 17 April 1958.

As part of the restoration of the castle a great deal of overburden material has been removed from the south side of the castle. A considerable amount of pottery has been recovered mostly dating to the late 19th - early 20th century. As yet, there is no firm evidence for the construction of a south range of buildings. Finds are in Dundee Museum.

L M Thoms 1984.