Inverquharity Castle

A historical perspective, drawn from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885.

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Inverquharity, a barony, with an old castle, in the lower section of Kirriemuir parish, Forfarshire, near the South Esk's left bank, 3 3/8 miles NNE of the town. It belonged for fourteen generations, from 1420 till the latter half of last century, to a branch of the Ogilvies, who received a baronetcy in 1626, and still are designated of Inverquharity or Baldovan. Members of this family were Alexander, who is said to have been smothered at Finhaven (1446); another Alexander, who was captured on the battlefield of Philiphaugh and executed at Glasgow (1646); and a Captain Ogilvy, who followed James VII. to the battle of the Boyne, and wrote the song It was a' for our rightful King. One of the finest and most entire baronial buildings in the shire, Inverquharity Castle stands near the confluence of Carity Burn and the South Esk, and belongs perhaps to the 15th century. It is a four-story structure of strong ashlar work, in pointed architecture; has walls about 9 feet thick, projecting considerably near the top, and terminating in a parapet; is machicolated over the gateway; and continues in a state of good preservation. Its heavy door of grated iron, similar to that of Invermark, dates from either 1444 or 1467.—Ord. Sur., sh. 56, 1870. See chap. vii. of Andrew Jervise's Land of the Lindsays (2d ed. 1882).

An accompanying 19th C. Ordnance Survey map is available, or use the map tab to the right of this page.

Note: This text has been made available using a process of scanning and optical character recognition. Despite manual checking, some typographical errors may remain. Please remember this description dates from the 1880s; names may have changed, administrative divisions will certainly be different and there are known to be occasional errors of fact in the original text, which we have not corrected because we wish to maintain its integrity. This information is provided subject to our standard disclaimer

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