Wardhouse Castle
| Wardhouse Castle | |
|---|---|
  Wardhouse Castle | |
| Coordinates | 57°20′55″N 2°40′41″W / 57.348593°N 2.677951°W |
| Site information | |
| Owner | Clan Leslie |
| Condition | ruined |
| Site history | |
| Built | 13th century |
| Materials | rubble |
Wardhouse Castle was a 13th-century tower house, about 2.5 miles (4.0 km) west of Insch, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.[1] The castle was called Weredors, Wardes Castle [2] or simply Wardhouse.[1]
History
[edit]Sir Bartholomew the Fleming owned the property in the 13th century.[2] The castle was in the lands of the John Erskine, Earl of Mar as feudal overlord in 1566, but the rents were used to pay royal trumpeters.[3]
In the 16th century the property belonged to the Leslies; the Gordons acquired it.[1] It was in ruins by 1790, and demolished, along with a neighbouring building, shortly before 1842.[2]
Structure
[edit]Wardhouse Castle was an enclosure castle. Only ditches and earthworks remain.[1] The building was very tall, with very thick walls which had a few slit windows. The lower storey was arched; the building was reached by a drawbridge. There was a moat.[2] By the late 20th century all that was visible of the site, which had been degraded by ploughing, was a natural oval mound, mainly natural, which measured about 60 metres (200 ft) from south east to north west by 30 metres (98 ft), surrounded by mere traces of a ditch. Other than the north eastern flank the natural profile has been changed. cropmarks showed ditches of an outer line of defence, which have been located by excavation.[2]