Castle Grant

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Castle Grant stands a mile north of Grantown-on-Spey in Inverness-shire detached in Morayshire. It is the former seat of the Clan Grant chiefs of Strathspey.[1] It was originally named Freuchie Castle but was renamed Grant in 1694.[1]

Castle Grant from the front
Castle Grant from rear
The gate house of Castle Grant

History

15th - 16th centuries

The castle is a Z-plan tower house that dates from the fifteenth century.[1] The lands had been held by the Clan Comyn but passed to the Grants in the fifteenth century and it became their main stronghold.[1]

The castle was originally named Freuchie Castle and James Grant of Freuchie supported King James V.[1]

17th - 18th centuries

Although the Grants were Protestants they joined James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose during the Scottish Civil War in the 1640s.[1] The name of the castle changed from Freuchie Castle to Castle Grant in 1694 when the lands were made into the regality of Grant.[1]

Ludovick Grant, the eighth laird supported the Hanoverians against the Stewarts and fought against the Jacobites in both the Jacobite rising of 1715 and that of 1745.[1] However Castle Grant was occupied by the Jacobites.[1]

In 1787 Robert Burns visited Castle Grant.

Modern history

The castle was restored by Sir Robert Lorimer in 1912.[2]

It later became derelict, but was restored in the 1990s.[1][3] The property was purchased for £720,000 by businessman Craig Whyte in 2006.[3] Castle Grant was seized by the Bank of Scotland after Whyte, who had led Rangers F.C. into its administration and liquidation in 2012, refused to make mortgage payments.[3] It was sold to foreign buyers in September 2014.[3]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Coventry, Martin. (2008). Castles of the Clans: The Strongholds and Seats of 750 Scottish Families and Clans. pp. 241 - 243. ISBN 978-1-899874-36-1.
  2. Dictionary of Scottish Atchitects: Robert Lorimer
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Craig Whyte’s former Castle Grant home is sold". The Scotsman. 16 September 2014. http://www.scotsman.com/news/scotland/top-stories/craig-whyte-s-former-castle-grant-home-is-sold-1-3543017. Retrieved 30 November 2014. 

Outside links

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