Edzell Castle

The estate passed into Lindsay hands through Catherine Stirling’s marriage to Sir Alexander Lindsay around 1358. The surviving tower is sometimes called the Stirling Tower, but HES regards that name as misleading evidence of its builders. The masonry belongs to the later Lindsay residence. Its vaulted lower rooms, staircase and upper accommodation made it a substantial home before the courtyard ranges expanded the household around it.

Successive men named David Lindsay require careful distinction. David, ninth Earl of Crawford, probably added the west range around 1553. His son, Sir David Lindsay, inherited in 1558 and later took the judicial title Lord Edzell. This same Sir David developed the later residence and commissioned the famous garden in 1604. The garden was not the work of a separate son following a different Lord Edzell’s building campaign.

Mary, Queen of Scots, stayed here on 23 and 24 August 1562 during her northern progress. A meeting of her Privy Council followed on 25 August. James VI also visited the castle. These royal connections are documented in HES’s historical assessment, but they should not overshadow the evidence of ordinary aristocratic life: additional kitchens, halls, private rooms and an unfinished lodging range reveal both ambition and practical organisation.

The garden walls organise sculpture into sequences of planetary deities, liberal arts and virtues. Heraldic patterns connect learning with family identity, while the summerhouse and bathhouse demonstrate how outdoor space could support leisure and hospitality. Some carved designs draw on continental prints. Their Renaissance imagery brings the household’s cultural interests into the open air, making learning part of the visitor’s passage around the enclosed space.

Sir David died in 1610 with projects unfinished and substantial debts. Cromwellian troops briefly occupied the castle in 1651. Financial problems eventually forced the last Lindsay laird to sell to the Earl of Panmure in 1715; forfeiture followed Panmure’s Jacobite involvement. Further dismantling under the York Buildings Company culminated in the stripping of the house in 1764. This was a long decline, rather than destruction in one great battle.

State guardianship began with the garden in 1932 and extended to the castle in 1935. The planting visitors recognise was laid out in 1936: the surviving Renaissance walls do not make every hedge or bed original. Edzell is a scheduled monument. Limited earlier excavation leaves questions about the wider settlement and uncompleted buildings, so an attractive reconstruction must not be mistaken for a fully established archaeological plan.

Take time to compare the old tower with the garden’s ordered panels. The contrast is more revealing than a quick photograph. Check current HES access notices before travelling, since conservation can restrict entry; the historical description does not guarantee that every room or path is available.