User:Rod Oliphant/Balcraig Castle

Balcraig Castle stood on the western flank of Hatton Hill about half a mile south of the village of Newtyle, Angus, in the Sidlaw Hills. Today no evidence remains of the structure save an area levelled off in the top left corner of the field in which it once stood. The location was strategic as the castle guarded the route through the Sidlaw Hills at this natural cleft.

History
In 1317 King Robert the Bruce rewarded Sir William Olifard (8th chief of the Oliphants) with a number of grants of land. The lands of Newtyle, Auchtertyre, Kinpurnie and Balcraig formed part of the lands granted in Angus to Sir William, which also included Turin and Drimmie east of Forfar and also Gallery to the north of the county.

It is not known when the castle of Balcraig was constructed but it was superseded in 1575 when Hatton Castle was erected by the 4th Lord Oliphant nearby. The only known representation of Balcraig is in Timothy Pont's map of the area circa 1590, when it was still standing.

It has been suggested that Balcraig was of wooden construction but this is not supported by the fact that a number of boulder stones were ploughed up in the vicinity of the site of the old castle some forty years ago. The size of the stones suggested that they were the foundations of a stone fortalice. There is also a diary record of the blowing up of the castle at Newtyle. Since Hatton Castle, although ruinous until it was restored in the 1980s, was still standing, rather, it had had some major repairs by its owners. It must be presumed therefore that the reference was to the destruction of Balcraig Castle.