Farnell Castle

Farnell Castle stands on a low ridge four miles south of Brechin in Angus. The present oblong tower house dates from the late 16th century and replaces an earlier castle known in 1296. King Edward I of England spent one night here during his invasion of Scotland before moving on to Brechin Castle. It began as the Bishop of Brechin’s palace, called ‘Palatium Nostrum’ by Bishop Meldrum in 1512. In about 1566 it passed from Donald Campbell to Catherine, Countess of Crawford, who converted it into a secular castle. Later the Earl of Southesk bought the property, and in the 19th century it served as an almshouse. The castle is a three-storey rubble-and-slate structure with a circular stair tower projecting at the front. The east section, once the bishop’s residence, shows crow-stepped gables and a projecting garderobe with sanitary flues. On the east gable two rows of corbels mark where a roofed gallery once ran. Small carved shields appear on the northern skewpots, one bearing an M with a crown and another the initials I.M., thought to stand for ‘Jesu Maria’. The castle is listed as a category A building. A ruined rectangular dovecot with later buttressing stands in the castle grounds. Its rubble walls enclose the remains of the once busy service buildings. The site offers quiet views across the surrounding farmland, with only the stonework and carvings to recall its long history.