Menstrie Castle

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Menstrie Castle is a "three-storey castellated house"^[1] near Stirling, central Scotland, in the town of Menstrie, Clackmannanshire. Situated midway between Edinburgh, Perth, Glasgow, Loch Lomond and Dundee, it currently provides a tourist base for visiting all of these locations.^[2] From the early 1600s, it was home to Sir William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling.^[1]

[edit] History

The castle was built around 1560,^[3] and was in the possession of the family of Sir William Alexander (formerly a member of the Clan MacAllister, but anglicised when the Clan's social and political fortunes developed) from the early years of that period. Alexander later became Principal Secretary of State (1626) and then the first Earl of Stirling in 1633. During his time as the Secretary of State, he was charged with establishing a Scottish colony in Nova Scotia, Canada.^[1]

Only 4 people (known as the Baronets of Nova Scotia) had settled there, when they were ordered by Charles I to burn their buildings and leave. This was because of the failure of a money making scheme involving the award of Baronetcies to the settlers, suggested by Alexander to the previous monarch, King James VI, which meant the land then had to be surrendered to Louis XIII of France. Alexander became bankrupt due to this, lost Menstrie Castle, and died penniless in London in 1644.^[1]

Menstrie Castle was badly damaged during the English Civil War, and was then sold to the Holburne family in 1648. It was purchased by the Abercromby family in 1719, and they held the estate until 1924, although the buildings had begun to suffer a gradual decline from around 1750. By the end of the Second World War, its state of disrepair was so marked that the well-known Scottish character actor, television producer and conservationist, Moultrie Kelsall, led a campaign to secure funding and protection to aid its restoration,^[3] and in 1951 the Castle was listed as "a building of national importance which cannot be altered or demolished without the consent of the Secretary of State for Scotland", which, although not an official grading, meant that its future was assured.^[1]

By 1964 the restoration was completed,^[3] and the Castle was converted over time into accommodation appropriate for the Scottish tourist industry. The Castle continues to serve the locale in that way to this day.^[1]

[edit] References