Dalhousie Castle

The Ramsays descend from Simundus de Ramesie — Simon of Ramsey — an English knight of Norman descent from the Huntingdonshire village of Ramsey, who followed his lord David, Earl of Huntingdon, to Scotland in about 1140. Counted the founder of Clan Ramsay and the first of the family to hold lands at Dalwolsey, he built the first castle there, on a strategic spot overlooking the River Esk. Of the red stone castle that stands today, the drum tower is the oldest part, dating to the mid 15th century; the majority is 17th-century work on an L-plan. A dry moat originally surrounded the castle — later filled in, and partially excavated in the late 20th century.

King Edward I stayed at the castle on his way to meet Sir William Wallace at the Battle of Falkirk. In 1400, Sir Alexander Ramsay withstood a six-month siege at Dalhousie by English forces led by King Henry IV. Two and a half centuries later, Oliver Cromwell used the castle as a base for his invasion of Scotland. Through the generations that followed, many Earls of Dalhousie — the chieftains of Clan Ramsay, whose seat this was — took an active part in British political and military leadership.

Around 1800, Walter Nicol designed a new layout for the walled garden. At the turn of the 20th century the seat of Clan Ramsay moved to Brechin Castle, and through the 20th century Dalhousie was leased out to a series of tenants, including a boarding school. The family retained ownership until 1977 — by which time the castle had been in the same family for more than eight centuries, longer than any other castle in Scotland.

Converted into a hotel in 1972, the castle was bought by Von Essen Hotels in 2003 for a reported £10 million. A roof fire on 26 June 2004 caused significant but localised damage, with no major structural harm, and the hotel resumed normal operations after repairs. When Von Essen fell into administration in April 2011, Dalhousie went to market with a guide price of £7.5 million; in March 2012 Robert Parker, owner of Doxford House, Eshott Hall and Guyzance Hall in Northumberland, purchased it for an undisclosed sum.