Английская Википедия:Ellon Castle
Шаблон:Use dmy dates Шаблон:Infobox military installation
Ellon Castle is a scheduled monument within the town of Ellon, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Only ruins survive of the 16th-century structure that may incorporate sections from the 15th century together with 18th-century renovations. The ruins form a focal point in a formal Шаблон:Convert garden planted in 1745; an older Category A listed sundial dating from c. 1700 forms the centrepiece to the garden.Шаблон:TOC LIMIT
History
Motte Castle
A timbered motte castle existed on a different siteШаблон:Efn in Ellon, which later became known as Moot Hill or Earl's Hill, dating back to the 13th-century rule of the Comyns.Шаблон:Sfnp One of the principal seats of the Mormaers who controlled Buchan,Шаблон:Sfnp the motte was used by Alexander Comyn as the prime centre to carry out legal affairs.Шаблон:R Surrounded by a deep ditch, the level hill of earth was topped by a wooden tower containing accommodation for the family.Шаблон:Sfnp A drawbridge prevented intruders gaining access to the timber staircase on the side of the slope leading to the palisade around the tower.Шаблон:Sfnp Barns, stables and other ancillary structures were housed in another courtyard alongside it that incorporated the same protection measures.Шаблон:Sfnp After Robert the Bruce defeated Comyn's son, John, at the Battle of Barra on 24 December 1307, there followed the Harrying of Buchan and Ellon was destroyed by fire;Шаблон:Sfnp the earthen mound survived until it was flattened at the start of the 19th century.Шаблон:Sfnp The downfall of the Comyns saw the ownership of the lands returned to the Crown which held them until gifted to Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan by Robert II of Scotland.Шаблон:Sfnp
Old Castle
Land known as the Hill of Ardgith was sold by Isobel Moffat to Thomas Kennedy in 1413.Шаблон:Sfnp Kennedy – sometimes spelt as Kynidy – had been appointed as hereditary Constable of Aberdeen by the Duke of Albany in appreciation for his actions during the Battle of Harlaw.Шаблон:R A fortification was constructed at some point after the purchase date of the land and before 1500;Шаблон:Sfnp originally known as the Fortalice of Ardgith,Шаблон:R the castle was likely built by the Kennedy of Kermuck – sometimes recorded as Kinmuck – family and was used as their family seat.Шаблон:R According to the archaeology historian W. Douglas SimpsonШаблон:R the basement vault dates to the 15th century and pre-dates any later remains.Шаблон:Sfnp The castle was reconstructed in the late 16th century that, according to Simpson, was undertaken by the masons John and Thomas Leiper, who were also responsible for work at nearby Tolquhon Castle, the House of Schivas and Castle Fraser.Шаблон:SfnpШаблон:R
A stone bearing the Kennedy arms is set into the ruins.Шаблон:Sfnp Dated 1635,Шаблон:R the marriage stone pictures a shield and bears the initials G. K.Шаблон:Sfnp
Later history
In 1706 the site was acquired by Baillie James Gordon, who sold it in 1752 to the Earl of Aberdeen, who extended the castle to a U-shaped plan and allowed one of his mistresses to live there with their son, Alexander Gordon. After Gordon's death in 1873, the house passed to his son George, a retired diplomat, who lived there with his German wife Emy until moving to the continent in the 1880s.[1]
The castle was later demolished and replaced by a mansion house, itself demolished in 1927. Today only the stable block bears the name.
Garden
The centrepiece of the Шаблон:Convert formal garden is a facet head sundial.Шаблон:Sfnp Dating from c. 1700, it is mounted on three steps and features twenty-four faces.Шаблон:R It may have been erected as a memorial to Baillie Gordon of Ellon's two children who were murdered by their tutor, Robert Irvine, in 1717.Шаблон:Sfnp The two boys were killed in Edinburgh after they reported seeing him with their mother's servant in a compromising situation.Шаблон:Sfnp
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
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- ↑ Niedersächsisches Institut für frühkindliche Bildung und Entwicklung, Manfred Berger, "Emy Gordon of Ellon (1841−1909)" (in German). Retrieved 5 January 2024.
