Barnes Castle

The Barnes estate was granted to Alexander de Seyton by King Robert the Bruce in 1321–1322; by the late 16th century it had passed to Sir John Seton of Barnes (died 1594), diplomat at the court of King Philip II of Spain and later King James VI's Treasurer of the Household and an Extraordinary Lord of Session. The property was sold out of the family by George Seaton, the Jacobite Earl of Dunfermline, in 1713.

The rubble-built quadrangular castle measures 162.5 by and runs along an axis from north-east to south-west. Square towers project from each corner with two intermediate square towers on the north-west, one on the south-west and another on the south-eastern walls. The residence occupies the north-eastern portion of the interior and there are remnants of a domestic range against the north-western wall. All of the towers are provided with gun loops to cover the sides of the walls. The entrance gate was in the centre of the south-west wall and led into a large courtyard. The residence has a symmetrical front with the doorway leading into a vestibule connected to a long hallway that stretches…