Dudhope Castle

Dudhope Castle is an L-shaped mansion which was until recently in use by the local authority, but future plans are under discussion. The original tower house probably dates to the 16th century, and this was extended in the 17th. It is possible to look all around the outside of the castle, and walk through the small gardens, but access to the substantially altered interior is not possible at the time of writing.

From the 13th century onwards Dudhope was a property of the Scrymgeour family, who were constables of Dundee Castle – and remained in their possession until 1668, at which point Graham of Claverhouse held it, and then a family of Douglases. The development of the castle is largely anecdotal, but this states that a castle of Dudhope existed in the late 13th century (unlikely) or a small tower (feasible) and was replaced with a great tower by 1460 (feasible) which was extended in 1580 (feasible but not suggested by Pont’s map). A datestone of 1600 may reflect this extension in reality, placing the date back a bit. In the absence of plans, the truth of this cannot be established, but a basement plan suggests that the old tower probably lies on the right hand side of the main frontage as the walls of the 1680 wing don’t appear to be particularly thick. The castle never saw military action, and was converted to a factory in the 18th century which destroyed the architecture inside, and as it was used as a barracks until 1880 and was then abandoned, the interior is entirely modern.

HES Canmore database entry