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Bavelaw Castle

Building(s) (period Unassigned)
Bavelaw Castle
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What is recorded here

Bavelaw Castle stands north of Hare Hill in the Pentland Hills, a Category A listed building where Mary, Queen of Scots, and James VI reportedly hunted. Walter Dundas built the original L-plan tower house in the 16th century, creating the lower northern chamber now called Queen Mary's Room. Laurence Scott enlarged the structure after receiving it from the crown in 1628, while Sir Robert Lorimer later restored the ruinous walls and added a turret. The vaulted ground-floor rooms still hold the shape of that ancient hunting lodge, waiting for footsteps that haven't landed for centuries.
Scotland's National Record of the Historic Environment records Bavelaw Castle as Building(s) (period Unassigned). The official map says its point is accurate as follows: NGR given to the nearest 10m. The record does not by itself mean that the public may enter the place.
Bavelaw Castle was a medieval tower house, likely built in the 16th century by the Maxwell family, a prominent Scottish noble clan. It is remembered for its strategic location in the Borders region, reflecting the turbulent history of conflict between England and Scotland during the late medieval period.

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Photo: Richard Webb · CC BY-SA 2.0