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16th-century Haunted Castle for Sale in Scotland

With an asking price of £500,000, this Scottish castle is an attractive offer, although you might be sharing the building with a specter.

bedlay castle for sale

Bedlay Castle, located just northeast of Glasgow, comes with nearly 10 acres of land. During the Middle Ages this land was owned by the Bishop of Glasgow, but in 1580 the property was given to Robert Boyd, 4th Lord Boyd of Kilmarnock, who built his own castle at a natural defensive point. The 16th century building is a simple tower house of two storeys and an attic. The tower house was around 13 by 7.5 metres, and had a square stair tower protruding from the north-east corner. At the ground floor were two vaulted cellars, with a hall above. The stair tower was later modified by the addition of an extra storey, reached by a spiral stair corbelled out from the join of the stair tower and the main block.

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In 1642 the was sold to James Robertson, who later became Lord Bedlay. His family extended the castle, and owned it until 1786. This extension is of the same height as the original building, with a single room on each floor. Round towers finish off both western corners of the extension. Because the extension was built on lower ground, an extra floor was created at the lower level, accessed from the ground floor, and including a hidden room beneath one of the towers.

Floor plan of Bedlay Castle with approximate dates of construction.

The castle, which is listed historical site, has long been used as home and has six bedrooms. One will find large barrel-vaulted store rooms, cellars and two smaller larders as well as the main kitchen and living room. The master bedroom is on the first floor together with a drawing room and gallery, and a large dining room. The other five bedrooms can be found on the second and third floors.

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One of the legends about Bedlay Castle is that it is haunted – before this castle was built the property was used as a palace for the Bishops of Glasgow. Apparently one of the bishops drowned in a nearby lake, but his ghost has been roaming around Bedlay Castle ever since, despite an attempt at an exorcism in the 18th century. Some people have reported seeing the Bishop’s large figure appearing spontaneously, and others have heard of him moving around the building.

The sale is being handled by Duncan Barrie of CKD Galbraith. He commented, “the sale of Bedlay Castle makes owning a beautiful Scottish castle an affordable reality for many. However the scale of the restoration work required is fairly extensive but would be well worth the investment of time and finance.

“The property is deceptively close to the city of Glasgow, and there is direct access to the A80 to Stirling, Edinburgh and Perth via the M9 and A9; yet the mixture of pasture land and amenity woodland surrounding Bedlay gives a considerable element of seclusion and privacy.”

Click here to visit the CKD Galbraith website for more details.

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