Inverquharity Castle

Inverquharity Castle, which is situated North of Kirriemuir, takes its name from the adjacent Quharity burn. Fourteen generations of Ogilvies owned Inverquharity from around 1420. The present building, which has been restored, dates from about 1444, when James II granted a licence to Alexander Ogilvie to build an iron yett (gate). Alexander became embroiled in a dispute with the Earl of Crawford, of Finavon Castle, which culminated in 1445 in the ‘Battle of Arbroath” lasting two days. Both protagonists were killed, but the Crawfords won the day and Inverquharity’s east wing was destroyed in retaliation for the Earl’s death. The outline of a serving hatch can still be seen low down on the east wall, where it used to open into the kitchen in the vanished east wing. If you look up from the main door, you can see the machiolations from which stones or boiling oil could be poured down on the enemy.

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