Buittle Castle

The ruins of Buittle Castle occupy an oval mound adjacent to the Urr water in Galloway. They are fenced off for safety reasons, and much of the site is overgrown and the ruin invisible, only a couple of fangs of masonry rise above the undergrowth. Adjacent is a substantial platform containing the later tower house which acts as a bailey, and beyond perhaps a second bailey, less well defined.

The castle was probably founded by the lords of Galloway in the late 12th or early 13th century, and passed by marriage to the Balliols, one of whom later became king of Scotland. As enemies of Robert Bruce, the Balliols found their estates targeted by his men, and Buittle was levelled to the ground in about 1313. Bruce granted Buittle to James Douglas, but it was retaken by Edward Balliol, who ruled a semi-independent Galloway for at least 20 years under the aegis of Edward III. In 1369 Archibald Douglas retook Buittle and it was maintained by Douglases up to their fall in the 1450s. The castle appears not to have been significantly repaired in this time, and may have been used as a quarry for smaller scale fortifications. Buittle was granted to the Maxwells in 1580, who built the adjacent Buittle Place. Today the castle site is owned by Balliol College in Oxford who are responsible for its maintenance.

HES Canmore database entry