Huntingtower Castle

Huntingtower stands a few miles west of Perth, its two stone towers set only a few metres apart — an unusual arrangement that shaped both its defence and its later legend. A stronghold existed here by the 14th century, when the site belonged to the Lords of Badenoch; Alexander Stewart, the Wolf of Badenoch, is said to have died here in 1394. From the 15th century it passed to the Ruthven family, who held it as the Place of Ruthven. The eastern tower began as a free-standing gatehouse, while the L-shaped western tower rose around the close of the 15th century; a wooden bridge once linked the two below the battlements, letting occupants retreat from one to the other if a tower was attacked. Inside survive fragments of a painted ceiling from the 16th century, its flowers, animals and Biblical scenes worked among Renaissance knotwork. The Ruthvens carried the castle into national history: in 1582 the Earl of Gowrie seized the young James VI here, holding the king for months. After the family’s downfall in the Gowrie Conspiracy of 1600, their name was suppressed by Parliament and the castle was rechristened Huntingtower. It is now cared for by Historic Environment Scotland.