Perthshire: About 7.5 miles east and north of Perth, on minor roads north of A90, just north of village of Rait, at Fingask.
Private NO 228275 OS: 53 PH2 7SA
OPEN: Weddings and events. Holiday accommodation. Gardens open only by prior arrangement.
Tel: 01821 670777 Web: www.fingaskcastle.co.uk
In a picturesque location in a sylvan glen, Fingask Castle, a handsome edifice among gardens with fine topiary, is an altered L-plan tower house, dating from 1594, of three storeys and a garret. Extensions were made in 1674, and a long wing was later added, making the building T-plan. The walls are pierced by gunloops and shot-holes, some of the windows still have iron yetts, and there are corbiestepped gables.
There is a walled garden and a fine sundial [NO 228274], possibly dating from the 17th century, as well as a lectern-type doocot [NO 396180], dating from
the first half of the 17th century.
The present entrance is defended by a vaulted guardroom, and the vaulted basement contains a kitchen, with a wide arched fireplace. The hall, on the
first floor, is a fine chamber, and has a smaller adjoining room. Private chambers occupied the floor above.
There is a walled garden and a fine sundial [NO 228274], possibly dating from the 17th century, as well as a lectern-type doocot [NO 396180], dating from the first half of the 17th century.
The present entrance is defended by a vaulted guardroom, and the vaulted basement contains a kitchen, with a wide arched fireplace. The hall, on the first floor, is a fine chamber, and has a
smaller adjoining room. Private chambers occupied the floor above.
The property was held by the Dunbars in the 14th century, then belonged to the Bruces of Clackmannan from 1399 or earlier, and Patrick Bruce
probably built the first castle in 1594. The castle was besieged in 1642. It was sold (or passed by marriage) to the Threipland family in the 1660s. Patrick Threipland, Provost of Perth, was knighted
in 1674 for suppressing Covenanters, but died a prisoner in Stirling Castle two years later.
David, his son, was one of the first to join the Jacobite Rising of 1715. James VIII, the Old Pretender, stayed at Fingask twice in 1716, but the family was forfeited after the Rising. During
the Jacobite Rising of 1745, Bonnie Prince Charlie visited the house, but David, the elder son, was killed at the Battle of Prestonpans that year. The family were forfeited again after the failure of
the rebellion, and the castle was sacked and partially demolished in 1746.
Sir Stewart Threipland, a younger son, escaped to France after helping Bonnie Prince Charlie, and securing for himself some of the Loch Arkaig Treasure. He returned to Edinburgh in 1747, and
was later able to buy back Fingask in 1783.
Sir Walter Scott visited Fingask, and the family held it until the 1920s. The house was restored early in the 20th century, and again in 1967, returning to Threipland ownership the following
year. There are interesting gardens with the largest collection of topiary in Scotland.
There are stories here of a tunnel linking the castle to nearby Kinnaird, which was also owned by the Threiplands.