203 Old Ruins to Explore in Scotland

A fine exmaple of a late 15th century tower-house on the L-plan. It contains four storeys and a garret; the walls are of coursed rubble. The ashlar corbelled parapet and angle turrets are of 16th c date, as are the crow-stepped gables and chimney stacks. The castle was built on the lands of the Auchenlecks of that Ilk. In the early 18th century it belonged to a family of Reids, who forfeited the castle in 1746 because of their activities as Jacobites. It has not been occupied since 1760, when a

Auldbar Castle, was a 16th-century tower house, located 2 miles southwest of Brechin, in Angus, Scotland. IT was owned by the Crammond family since the 13th century before it was sold to John Lyon, 8th Lord Glamis in 1575. His son Sir Thomas Lyon served as Treasurer of Scotland from 1585 to 1595, and built the castle in the later 16th century. The property was subsequently owned by the Sinclair family, and then the Young family

One of the largest and finest towers of its type in Scotland, it was home to the distinguished Erskine family, Earls of Mar, from the later 14th century until 1800. By 1693 a mansion, kitchen tower, brew house and other buildings had been added. In 1702 John, 6th Earl of Mar, began to convert the tower into an elegant modern house and created an ambitious and extensive planned landscape around his home.

The Antonine Wall, known to the Romans as Vallum Antonini, was a turf fortification on stone foundations, built by the Romans across what is now the Central Belt of Scotland, between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde. Built some twenty years after Hadrian's Wall to the south, and intended to supersede it, while it was garrisoned it was the northernmost frontier barrier of the Roman Empire. It spanned approximately 63 kilometres and was about 3 metres high and 5 metres wide.

Arbroath Abbey, in the Scottish town of Arbroath, was founded in 1178 by King William the Lion for a group of Tironensian Benedictine monks from Kelso Abbey. It was consecrated in 1197 with a dedication to the deceased Saint Thomas Becket, whom the king had met at the English court. It was William's only personal foundation — he was buried before the high altar of the church in 1214. The Abbey is cared for by Historic Environment Scotland and is open to the public throughout the year. The distin

Ardestie Earth Houseis an example of an earth house or souterrain, ancient underground structures common to the British Isles and Brittany. This is one of the largest and most complex examples of its kind in Scotland. It was accidentally discovered during ploughing in 1949. Subsequent excavations during the following two years also revealed about eight associated stone dwellings at ground level.

Ardgowan House is a late 18th-century mansion, set in a stunning 10,000 acre coastal Estate on the Firth of Clyde near Inverkip, Scotland. Ardgowan is located in Inverclyde, in the former county of Renfrewshire. The Ardgowan estate has been held by the Stewart family since the early 15th century: towards the end of that century, their tower house Ardgowan Castle was built within the site of the previous Inverkip Castle.

Ardgowan House is a Grade 1 listed Palladian Country Mansion wedding venue located in Inverkip near Glasgow on the coast. It has been held by the Stewart family since the early 15th century: towards the end of that century, their tower house Ardgowan Castle was built within the site of the previous Inverkip Castle fortress. The present house was erected in 1797 and completed in 1801 from designs by Cairncross.

A medieval castle ruin sitting high up on the hills above ballantrae which was built by clan kennedy that succumbed to the conflict over Crossmaguel Abbey in 1601. There is a good walk that passes the castle. The original castle was wedge-shaped and had three square towers connected by battlement walls. The gatehouse was on the north side, and the keep was in the southeast part of the courtyard with a long hall house alongside.

Ardvreck Castle is a ruined castle dating from the 16th century which stands on a rocky promontory jutting out into lake Assynt in Sutherland, Scotland. The castle was built in about 1590, Ardvreck is famous as the place where Montrose- viceroy and captain general of Scotland was handed over in 1650 to the Covenanter forces by MacLeod, Laird of Assynt.

A large impressive mansion and Category A listed, T-plan building of a late 16th-century date converted to the L-plan during the early-to-mid-17th century; its ruins stand about 1 km W of Dundonald, South Ayrshire, Scotland. Parish of Dundonald. It was held at various times by the Wallace, Cochrane and Montgomerie families.

Auchincloigh Castle is a ruined fortification near the Burnton Burn, lying within the feudal lands of the Craufurd Clan, situated in the Parish of Ochiltree, East Ayrshire, Scotland. The monument consists of the remains of a medieval tower house situated 100m E of Auchencloigh Farm.The fragmentary remains consist of several massive sections of lime- bonded whinstone rubble walling. The building appears to have been rectangular and of considerable strength

Auchindoun Castle is a 15th-century L-Plan tower castle located in Auchindoun near Dufftown in Banffshire, Scotland. It stands in a superb defensive location at a height of nearly 1,000ft just over two miles south east of Dufftown. Immediately to the south and east the ground falls away steeply into the valley of the River Fiddich, and the location offers control over one of the main routes south from Speyside into Aberdeenshire, today followed by the A941.

Auchinleck Castle was a castle built on a rocky promontory on the eastern bank of the Lugar Water, East Ayrshire. The remains of the castle are designated a scheduled ancient monument.

A finest example of an eighteenth century country villa to survive in Scotland. Once diarist James Boswell’s family seat, this grand 18th-century country house has its own grounds, river, ice-house and grotto. The large dining room and its elaborate plasterwork makes any meal special while the library lends itself to conversation and contemplation, just as it did for James Boswell and Dr Johnson.

The Alloway Auld Kirk, which dates back to the 16th Century, is a ruin in Alloway, South Ayrshire, Scotland, celebrated as the scene of the witches' dance in the poem "Tam o' Shanter" by Robert Burns. William Burnes, father of the poet, is buried in the graveyard together with his wife Agnes and daughter Isabella as well as two of his nieces.

Auldhame is a ruinous 16th-century L-plan tower house. It consisted of a main block of three storeys and a projecting stair-tower and had bartizans crowning the main block. The courtyard side is mostly ruined, but the beach side is more complete. Today it stands empty and ruined and can be visited although visitors should take care of masonry.

Bachelors' Club is a National Trust Property where you can discover more about Robert Burns’s formative years in an authentically restored attraction. In this 17th-century thatched house, Robert Burns and friends formed a debating club in 1780. You can see where Burns and his friends gathered to debate the big issues of the day!

Balintore Castle is an A-listed shooting lodge in a remote highland glen, now undergoing restoration after 50 years of dereliction. This beautiful castle occupies an elevated site in moorland above Balintore village, a few miles north of the Loch of Lintrathen, near Kirriemuir, Angus. A tower house named Balintor existed on the site in the late 16th century, according to Timothy Pont's maps.

Ballindalloch Castle is one of the few private castles in Scotland that has been lived in continuously by the family which founded it, the Macpherson-Grants. Originally a fortified tower house that was erected circa 1546, Ballindalloch underwent a significant period of renovation and extension during the Victorian era which transformed it into the sumptuous country retreat that stands today. An independent company of what was to become known at the Black Watch regiment was formed under the comma