It is actually
the garden at Edzell which seems to be more important that the castle itself. It has a
large enclosed area, and the walls are adorned with numerous carvings of Planetary
Deities, Liberal Arts and Cardinal Virtues. These are actually now resin casts of the
originals, which are located in the delectable Summer House of 1604. The garden dates from
this time, being laid out by Sir David Lindsay, Lord Edzell, but the present parterre was
the work of the Ancient Monuments Board in 1932 when the garden was taken into state care.
At the opposite corner of the garden from the Summer House are the scanty remains of the
bath house, with the well surviving in the thickness of the wall.
The oldest part of the castle
is the L-planned tower of the early 16th century, which is built in a rich red
sandstone. This was added to the north where the entrance pend passes beneath what was
once a large hall, long since ruined. In 1602-04 Lord Edzell added the north west tower.
The castle was probably never finished, and the Northeast range is incomplete. It is
thought that Lord Edzell became more interested in his garden than the castle.
Edzell was the seat of the
Lindsays of Glenesk who acquired the lands by marriage in 1358. Previously owners were the
Stirlings, their motte visible from the present castle. A fragment of an early Christian
cross-found nearby is located in the Summer House. Mary, Queen of Scots visited in August
1562. Cromwell took the castle in 1651. The Lindsays retained Edzell until 1715 when David
sold it to the Earl of Panmure. He was deprived of his estates for his Jacobite
adherences. The castle was stripped for building materials in 1764, and one of the turrets
can still be pointed out in Edzell village. Ownership passed to the Earl of Dalhousie
whose descendant still retains it. |
