Forter Castle
A 16th-century fortalice rebuilt after burning in 1640.
Forter Castle is a 16th-century fortalice in Glenisla, Perthshire, Scotland, built in 1560 by James Ogilvy, the 5th Lord of Airlie. It was burned in 1640 by Archibald Campbell, the 8th Earl of Argyll, and later rebuilt in the early 1990s. The castle is a Category B listed building and is noted in ballad as the 'Bonnie House of Airlie'.
Quick Facts
- Built
- 1560
- Builder
- James Ogilvy, 5th Lord of Airlie
- Location
- Glenisla, Perthshire, Scotland
- Grid reference
- NO18239 64640
- Council area
- Angus
- National park
- Cairngorms National Park
- Listed status
- Category B (Historic Environment Scotland)
Facts from the source article.
History
James Ogilvy, the 5th Lord of Airlie, built Forter Castle in 1560 as a fortalice to guard the Balloch Pass route to Glenshee against marauding caterans and clan feuds fueled by religious change. His grandson, James Ogilvy, the 7th Lord of Airlie, was created 1st Earl of Airlie by Charles II in 1639. In 1650, the earl refused to sign the National Covenant, prompting Archibald Campbell, the Duke of Argyll, to burn Forter Castle and Airlie Castle; the Ogilvys then moved to Cortachy Castle. The castle lay in ruin until 1988, when Robert Pooley purchased it and undertook a reconstruction guided by Scottish Heritage. Exterior work took two years, with the original L-shaped layout recreated from scarring in the remaining stones; the only deliberate change was making the Laird’s bedroom the full width of the castle, matching the Great Hall’s dimensions. Interior design was handled by Pooley’s daughter, Katharine Pooley. By 2020, Katharine Pooley owned the castle (since 2003) and sometimes rented it out on a self-catering basis; the basement chapel was occasionally used for weddings.
Architecture
As described in an 1899 report by MacGibbon and Ross, the original castle comprised an oblong block about 39 feet by 26 feet 6 inches, with a tower at the southeast corner roughly 21 feet square, forming a variation of the L-plan. The entrance sat in the tower within the re-entrant angle, and the ceiling above the main stair landing was vaulted. The ground floor of the main block held three vaulted compartments, one being the kitchen with an unusually large fireplace, connected by a passage. The first-floor Hall had fireplaces in the south and west walls, and above it were second and third floors plus an attic; corbelled turrets stood at the northeast and northwest angles on the third floor. A 1958 visit found the castle a roofless ruin, generally as MacGibbon and Ross had recorded, though vault and fireplace features were destroyed, and a circular stair turret projected in the re-entrant angle above the south doorway. The rebuilt castle has a main block with a southeast wing. The ground floor contains two vaulted cellars and a kitchen (the kitchen occupies what was originally the dungeon). The hall is on the first floor, with two further floors and an attic above. The castle now has five floors: the first-floor hall, a master bedroom on the second floor, and three more bedrooms on the third floor. The great hall spans the building’s width, with a fireplace covering much of one side, and the laird’s bedroom fills the entire second floor.
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