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Lady Lindsay's Castle
Earthwork (Medieval)
Site Name Lady Lindsay's Castle
Classification Earthwork (Medieval)
Alternative Name(s) Glen Ericht Gorge; Middle Mause
Canmore ID 28720
Site Number NO14NE 23
NGR NO 17719 48887
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/28720
- Council Perth And Kinross
- Parish Blairgowrie
- Former Region Tayside
- Former District Perth And Kinross
- Former County Perthshire
NO14NE 23 1774 4888
(NO 1774 4888) Lady Lindsay's Castle (NR) (Site of)
OS 6" map, Perthshire, 2nd ed. (1901)
The scene of the imprisonment of Lady Lindsay, a daughter of the house of Crawford "some centuries ago", according to the legend.
The ruins of a circular tower could be traced in 1843 (NSA 1843) but the only evidence of the castle on the ground c.1865 was a small raised bank more oval than circular, covered with grass. (Name Book 1865)
"Lady Lindsay's Castle " occupies a secluded wooded promontory above a deep gorge in Glen Ericht. The approach from the W has been partly blocked by a ditch c.6.0m wide and 1.5m deep, isolating a sub-rectangular area about 24.0m WNW-ESE by 17.0m. Here stand the footings of two rectangular buildings, one a vague levelled platform showing no sign of stonework, and the other the over-grown stump of a small but strong tower, measuring c.6.0m NE-SW by 4.0m within a wall some 2.0m thick surviving to a maximum height of 0.7m in the NE. This is probably the alleged circular tower. The base course of the outer wall face is visible for most of the SW side but elsewhere only an odd facing stone can be detected under the thick coating of turf. The NW side is partially destroyed.
Surveyed at 1:2500.
Visited by OS (AA) 8 February 1974
Field Visit (July 1987)
Overlooked by higher ground immediately to the W, Lady Lindsay's Castle occupies a sheer-sided promontory on the W bank of the Glen Ericht gorge, 950m ENE of Middle Mause steading. A low bank (up to 3.5m thick) and an external ditch up to 4m broad and 1.6m deep, which was crossed either by a causeway or flying bridge, cuts off the neck of the promontory. The interior of the earthwork measures 22m from E to W by 18m transversely and on the SE there are the turf-covered remains of a building (6m by 4m within walls about 1.1m thick) with an entrance in its W side-wall; a subrectangular scooped depression (8.4m by 4m), to the W, may indicate the site of a second building.
In 1843 'the ruins of a circular tower' could still be traced in which, according to legend, Janet Gordon of Huntly (died 1489x1491), wife of Alexander Lindsay, was confined.
Visited by RCAHMS (IMS) July 1987.
RCAHMS 1990.
Measured Survey (1987)
RCAHMS surveyed the earthwork at Lady Lindsay's Castle in 1987 at a scale of 1:500 with self-reducing alidade and plane-table. The site plan was redrawn in ink and published at a scale of 1:1000 (RCAHMS 1990, Fig. 215).
Note (11 May 2015 - 18 May 2016)
This small fortification occupies a sheer-sided promontory jutting out from the W face of the Glen Ericht gorge. Its defences comprise a low bank some 3.5m in thickness facing onto and external ditch 4m in breadth by 1.6m in depth, which cuts across the neck of the promontory at the fott of the slope dropping into the edge of the gorge on the W. A central causeway in the bottom of the ditch on the W probably marks the position of the entrance The interior measures about 22m from E to W by 18m transversely, containing a rectangular scoop immediately to the rear of the defences on the S, and a rectangular building at the edge of the cliff on the E; the latter measures 6m from NNE to SSW by 4m transversely within walls 1.1m in thickness. Traditionally this is the site where Lady Lindsay, Janet Gordon of Huntly (died 1489X1491) was incarcerated, and it is likely that these are the remains of some medieval stronghold.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 18 May 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC3044
