Glasclune Castle

Visited in mid-September, 2021, this was the second a two-castle trip in the Blairgowrie area of Perthshire. While the photo below shows where we parked in relation to the castle…

…the next one down shows where that is in relation to the nearby Kinloch and A923.

Historical recap

A few miles north of Kinloch, the castle can be accessed at the bottom of a narrow single track lane. Two houses are at the end of said lane, and I approached the very pleasant owners of the (bigger) northernmost of the two, asking permission to have a look at the castle. They directed me through the field to the south of the houses. A gate about 50m along on the left (picture below) leads up to some sheds and from there, you will see the castle ruins up to the right.

A history of Glasclune Castle is provided by The Castle Guy – https://thecastleguy.co.uk/castle/glasclune-castle/ – who states that the existing building dates back to around 1600.

Canmore also notes some history of the site – https://canmore.org.uk/site/28735/glasclune-castle

The site does not appear to be maintained, and unfortunately visiting at this time of year after a particularly warm summer meant the surrounding area and the ruins were extremely overgrown. It is possible to get right up to the tower (shown above) which stand remarkably proud given how thin the walls are.

No admission charges, but as noted, we did ask permission as the location is marked as a private site.

We did have the dogs with us, but kept them on short leads. Although no livestock were noted, we were tramping farmland nonetheless. The youngest daughter appeared entirely underwhelmed by the experience, enjoying neither the walk up the short incline to the ruin, nor how overgrown everything was. There is a very steep ravine behind the castle, disappearing down to the burn below and the remains of the tower really did look fragile. We kept the child away from both…

Accessibility, as you might have guessed, was pretty poor all round. Certainly not a jaunt for those with mobility issues, or buggies/wheelchairs.

Overall, I rather enjoyed visiting this little ruin. I was disappointed not to be able to see more of it and suspect late autumn or early spring might be a better time to visit, as nature recedes a little. The views over the Strathmore valley are breathtaking and the location of the castle makes sense in that regard. While we won’t be rushing back, very happy to have been able to tick Glasclune Castle off the list.