Balhousie Castle

A sizeable mansion overlooking the North Inch, a half-mile north of Perth city centre, Balhousie Castle has at its core an L-plan tower house built in 1631. By 1862, the tower had become somewhat dilapidated but was restored and recast by local architect David Smart (1824 - 1914) for Thomas Hay-Drummond, the 11th Earl of Kinnoull (1785 - 1866), to form the present three-storey mansion, which was itself extended in 1910. Its style is very much Scots Baronial, featuring crow-stepped gables, bartizans and pepper-pot turrets.

In its early years, the new building was let to a succession of successful citizens of Perth, although the Kinnoulls did occupy the property between 1912 and 1926. Balhousie was subsequently a convent until the early years of World War II, when it was occupied by officers of the Auxiliary Training Service. Thereafter it continued to be used by the army, becoming the headquarters and museum of the Black Watch regiment in 1962.

The lands here had been the property of the Eviot family until 1476, when they were sold to the Mercers. Ownership passed to the Earls of Kinnoull in 1625.


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