Ecclesgreig Castle

Ecclesgreig Castle is located just northwest of St Cyrus, a coastal village in Aberdeenshire. The house and estate has had multiple names throughout the ages, initially as Criggie, then Mount Cyrus and finally Ecclesgreig. Although the castle itself was built by 1846, the earliest map I could find was from 1774 showing a building on the site called Criggie.   References to Criggie can be found all the way back to 1357.  The estate has passed through a number of families since then the Grays to 1541, the Strattons of Lauriston until 1615, the Grahams of Morphie till 1686, the Burnetts, the Scotts, the Lows, then the Grants in 1826 who changed the name to Mount Cyrus and finally the Forsyth-Grants in 1843 who built the current castle and changed the estate to Ecclesgreig.

I’ve been absolutely fascinated by tracing back the lineage of the Estate. It’s a tale of families dying out, of going bust, of being award titles, of legal battles and of the rich and powerful of the local area.

The superiority of Criggie (Cragy as it was called then) was granted to John Gray of Boxmouth in 1357. It remained in the family until 1541 when Patrick Gray, Fourth Lord Gray, died without an heir and made Andrew Straton of Lauriston the administrator of his estate. Andrew Straton granted a charter of the lands to his kinsman. In 1543, after King James V died, the fifth Lord Gray disputed the distribution of the lands. By 1555 competing charters for the land were granted to Andrew Straton of Cragy and to David Barclay of Mathers. It wasn’t until 1587 that King James VI granted a charter of novodamus to David Straton of Cragy (Grandson of Andrew Straton of Cragy) with a reference to a Mains of Cragy.  In 1615 the Stratons of Cragy sold the estate.

I couldn’t find who the estate was sold to, but I’m guessing that it was the Grahams of Morphie. There is an excerpt from “In defence of the regalia, 1651-2” by Douglas Gordon Barron in 1910.

 

“The Grahams of Criggie (now known as Ecclesgreig), in the Parish of St Cyrus, where of the Family of Morphie and held the lands till 1686, when they were acquired by Robert, son of James Burnett of Craigmyle, and nephew of the first Baronet of Leys”

Robert Burnett’s daughter Jean, married William Burnett the 2^nd son of Sir Thomas Burnett of Leys, 3^rdBaronett. In 1759, when Robert Burnett, 5^th Baron of Leys died without an heir, Thomas, son of William and Jean, inherited. After a 7 year legal battle with his cousin, he was confirmed the 6^th Baronet of Leys and moved to Crathes the ancestral seat of the Leys. What happened to the Craggie estate is unclear.

The next mention of Criggie is in relation to the Scott’s. In 1787 Charles Scott is a subscriber listed in “The office, powers, and jurisdiction, of His Majesty’s justices of the peace” by Robert Boyd. In 1795, Charles Scott married Catherine Smith. Charles Scott appears to of completely renovated the estate, setting up new plantations, awarded the salmon fishing rights, opening up a new lime-stone quarry, and building a new house. In “A general view of Kincardineshire or The Mearns” by George Robertson, 1813, Criggie estate is listed as being owned by Charles Scott Esq. The house is described thus:

“This is an elegant modern edifice, lately built, and beautifully embosomed amidst thriving young plantations,… It is a great ornament to this part of the country.”

So it is very surprising that by 1816, Charles Scott appears to be in Edinburgh and Alexander Low is ensconced in Criggie. It is reported that Alexander Low of Criggie married to Mary Nicoll in 1816. In 1819, Mrs Low of Criggie had a son but in 1826 there is report of a court case where Alexander Low of Criggie is mentioned. (“Cases decided in the Court of Session”) I can’t tell from the report if Alexander Low was the subject of the case or was just involved, however, by 1827 he was listed as being late of Criggie (The Aberdeen Journal, October 24th, 1827).

When the Grants took over Criggie, it was renamed Mount Cyrus. In 1825 there is a reference of Mrs Davina Grant of Mount Cyrus having a daughter (Blackwood’s Magazine, Volume 18). In 1826 is the first reference to Frederick Grant, which is being made a Deputy Lieutenant of Kincardinshire.

In 1843, William Forsyth Grant inherits Mount Cyrus and it is renamed to Ecclesgreig. In 1846, there is evidence that William Forsythe Grant spent time in Bath at Catherine Place. This is perhaps where he had a chance to meet Edmund Goodridge and plan the building of Ecclesgreig Castle.

Ecclesgreig Castle is a Victorian Gothic house on a 16^th Century core rising 2 storeys with shaped gables and tall spired roofs. One of its claim to fame is the inspiration for Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” who was in the local area writing the novel and is said to of visited the castle

Following the Second World War, large houses like Ecclesgreig became uneconomical due to the maintainence and taxation. Many houses were made uninhabitable by tearing their roofs off so that the taxes could no longer be leveled. The Laird of Ecclesgreig took a different tactic, he removed the floors and boarded up the windows to create a large grain store which, then being an agricultural building, was no longer taxed.

I couldn’t find any images of the original interior which is a shame.  As an excerpt from “The Baronage of Angus and Mearns” by David MacGregor Peter describes the interior and it sounds fascinating!

“The most striking features of the interior of this splendid mansion are the very unique and antique styles of its rooms and furniture. For one instance, the dining-room is all magnificently paneled, walls and ceiling, with wainscot-with corresponding massive furniture-and boasts of a unique marble mantelpiece, adorned on the canopy with statuettes of those immortal champions of Scottish liberty, King Robert the Bruce, and Sir William Wallace – in full panoply. But it altogether defies description. Here, all around, “Romance bears the touch of reality.”.”

However, the economic pressure resulted in the sale of the estate, then the castle and surrounding gardens. Dry rot had set in and resulted in the collapsing of the roof.

Ecclesgreig Castle was sold to a property developer who planned a very ambitious holiday resort. The plan fell through, and the castle was sold again, this time to Farquhar Estates Ltd. The roof has been repatched and the “witch’s spire” turret has been restored. However, they have run into repeated property development issues with planning permission. In 2002, the Scotsman published an article, “Castles in thin air” which shows what has happened to some other castles and talks to Gavin Farquhar about Ecclesgreig.

Buildings at Risk, register for Scotlandreports in October 2010, that “the External inspection finds no sign of significant change since the last site visit (June 2009). The deterioration of the roof is severe.”

Trees have grown up blocking the Castle from view of the village of St Cyrus, so I went up to have a look at the Castle. It’s a fascinating building, something I find incredibly beautiful. Sadly, a huge amount of money is needed to restore this Castle and it is likely that the Castle will remain at Risk.