Castle Grant

Castle Grant is a privately owned mansion from the 18th century built around an older and much altered tower house dating from the 15th to the 17th century. It can be seen from a private lane adjacent to the castle but not visited.

The castle is the ancestral seat of the chiefs of the clan Grant, and originally referred to as Freuchies. Originally associated with a small settlement called Balachastell, the castle was remodelled from an initial square tower by the addition of a long hall block with adjacent stair wing in the 16th century. This was extended by the addition of two projecting wings to form a courtyard  in the early 18th century, and then the building was redesigned by John Adam by adding a plain and severe new suite of rooms extending the full width of the rear of the house, placing the new front door on this side. The house was used as a barracks in the Second World War and badly damaged, after which it and the estate were sold off. The house has been owned by several people in recent years, each contributing to the slow and expensive process of badly needed renovation.

The Grants held Freuchies from 1435, and through judicious political decisions held the majority of Strathspey by the 1530s, a timeframe in which the castle was founded. By 1562 the laird of Freuchies adopted the style Grant of Grant, although the castle retained an older name. It was repeatedly garrisoned in the 17th and 18th centuries, leading to considerable financial loss for the lairds, who elected not to support either side in the 1745 Jacobite Rising. The settlement of Balachastell was removed in 1765, and the occupants relocated to the new-built village of Grantown, leaving the castle within a planned park.

HES Canmore database entry
Highland Council Historic Environment Record entry