Reprieve for Ballintore castle in Scotland
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At last Balintore Castle in Angus, Scotland, is going to be restored. The castle has been derelict as long as I can remember. My grandparents lived in the nearby Kirriemuir and I was always amazed that such a grand building was just being left to rot. Evidently there have been several attempts to buy Balintore Castle but in common with many other historic buidlings, the main stumbling block has been the unwillingness of current owners to sell at a realistic price. The castle was faced with possible demolition until the local council used their compulsory purchase powers after the previous owner failed to respond to repairs notices. The council will now transfer ownership to a buyer who will restore the castle as a private home.
Ballintore Castle
I think that is it important to preserve historic buildings, even if they do stay in private ownership. It makes a visit to Scotland all the more culturally interesting if there are beautiful buildings in good condition. If you would like to see the castle there are walks in the area. Again it shows that it is necessary for there to be some state intervention in order to preserve our past.
February 10th, 2007 at 1:04 pm
How could anyone possibly want to make a wonderful looking building go to ruin. I wonder how much it’ll cost to renovate.
March 6th, 2007 at 2:00 am
Thanks for your sympathetic comments on Balintore Castle. You will be able to follow the restoration on the Web, see:
http://balintorecastle.googlepages.com/balintorecastlehome
March 6th, 2007 at 10:07 am
David, I will follow the restoration with interest. Le me know once your proposed blog is up and running, Be aware though, that writing and maintaining a blog can be quite addictive and time consuming, you want to have enough time to work on the restoration!
March 12th, 2007 at 8:48 pm
Karen, your encouragment is vey welcome! The planned “blog” is only intended to be occasional i.e. whenever there has been a significant development in the restoration.
I am happy with this “quid pro quo” level of blogging that comes with the territory of taking on a heritage building, and rest assured that my main concern is the building. The first blog entry on the initial survey of the building should be available soon.
March 12th, 2007 at 9:12 pm
Look forward to seeing the project progress.
April 20th, 2007 at 8:54 pm
I went for a look at the castle when I was in Angus on the 17 April and took some photos. The castle is located in an amazing spot with wonderful views down the glen.
April 27th, 2007 at 12:57 am
I live quite near to this castle and was delighted to hear that it had been bought for restoration. It’s an amazing place. All the very best David…I know a lot of people who were very happy to hear that the castle isn’t going to be left crumble away.
April 27th, 2007 at 8:42 am
Yes. Jen, It is an amazing place which you don’t truly appreciate until you see it in real life rather than photos. It is unfortunate that it has been neglected for so long.
May 4th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
i used to live in balintore 2 mins walk from the castle, and i think it’s about time someone restored it. it is an breath taking castle and how anyone could let it rot like it has is unbelievable to me.
May 4th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
Yes Vicki, it is amazing that such a fine castle was allowed to fall into such a state of disrepair. I’m not sure if the restoration work has started as I checked on the link:
http://balintorecastle.googlepages.com/balintorecastlehome
and there has been no recent update