CASTLE OF RATTRAY

The Castle of Rattray was a Motte and Bailey which stood on Castle Hill, a large mound south-east of Rattray. The site of the Castle of Rattray may be seen from the A926 Rattray to Alyth road. It was built around 1170 by Alanus de Rattray and remained the principal seat of the Rattray family until 1533 when they moved to Craighall Castle.

A Motte and Bailey castle is a fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called the Motte. The Bailey was a courtyard area with a variety of buildings all surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade.

A painting, believed to be of the Castle of Rattray, depicts a ruined stone keep of at least three storeys – see

https://www.clanrattray.com/rattray-castle

The Castle of Rattray is marked on Pont’s late 16th century map as Castel of Ratra and is depicted as a tall tower on a mound with a pair of smaller buildings at the foot of the slope.

Quarrying carried out in the 1970s removed the last remains of the castle. Photographs of the quarrying show the Motte on which the Castle of Rattray stood.

FRED OUDNEY’S PHOTOS OF QUARRYING

For more details read the chapter ‘Craighall and the Rattray Family’ written by Lachlan Rattray in ‘A Social History of Blairgowrie and Rattray’ edited and compiled by Margaret Laing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motte-and-bailey-castle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6gTDUAJMdl

https://canmore.org.uk/site/30764/castle=of-rattray