Barnbougle Castle

En un regard

Le château en bref

On a rocky spur on the shore of the Firth of Forth, a few hundred metres north of Dalmeny House, Barnbougle is the cradle of the Earls of Rosebery. A first tower was built here in the 13th century by the Mowbrays, knights of Norman origin and lords of Dalmeny and Inverkeithing; the Hamiltons rebuilt it as a tower house in the 16th and 17th centuries before the Primroses acquired it. Battered by the waves, so much so that a wave is said to have swept into the dining room during supper, the old house was abandoned in 1817 for Dalmeny House, then damaged by an accidental explosion and left as a ruin, serving as a landscape feature and a landmark for shipping. In 1881 the 5th Earl of Rosebery, later Prime Minister, had it rebuilt in Scottish Baronial style by Wardrop and Reid, keeping old walls. He made it a study retreat with six libraries, a single bedroom and a vaulted banqueting hall where he rehearsed his speeches. Closed and preserved for almost a century after his death, the castle is now hired for events; it appears in A Castle for Christmas and The Princess Switch 3.