Mains Castle

Mains Castle (also known as Claverhouse Castle or Fintry Castle ) is a 16th-century castle in Dundee, Scotland. The castle consists of several buildings surrounding a courtyard, although several of the original western buildings no longer exist. The northern and eastern buildings are where the family would have lived, with the servants occupying the southern quarters. The castle also has a large, six-floor, square tower house with dressed cornerstones, which is typical of 16th-century construction.

The castle is located in Dundee's Caird Park to the north of the city overlooking the Dichty valley and adjacent to a small stream known as the Gelly Burn. On the opposite side of the burn is located the mausoleum of the Graham family and the Main's cemetery, which was formerly the site of the district's kirk.

The castle and its grounds was the subject of a poem by Dundee poet William McGonagall in his work The Castle of Mains.

The castle is believed to have been built in 1562 by Sir David Graham, nephew of Cardinal Beaton. A keystone in the western gateway bears this date as well as the initials DG and DMO for David Graham and Dame Margaret Ogilvy. A horizontal beam in one of the eastern courtyard doors bears a date of 1582, indicating a possible completion date. The castle was the seat of the Grahams of Fintry and remained so until the 19th century when Robert Graham of Fintry sold the lands to David Erskine, with the condition that his family could retain the territorial title of Graham of Fintry and that the estate revert to the older name of Lumlathen or Linlathen. The estate was later sold by Shipley Gordon Stuart Erskine to James Key Caird, who gifted the castle and its lands to the town council as a site for a public park in 1913. The park was later opened in 1923 by Caird's half sister Mrs Marryat. The castle was renovated in the 1980s through a government scheme for the unemployed, as many of the buildings had become roofless.

An earlier castle was held by the Douglas Earls of Angus from the fourteenth century til 1530 when it passed to the Grahams. Since December 2015, Mains Castle has been in the ownership of a Mr Dean Duncan. Since the takeover of the castle by mr Dean Duncan of kirkton it has seen a great deal of renovations to front garden. where all overgrown dead vegetation has been removed and a newly erected garden fence in keeping with the look of the park.The upper room known as the fintry suit has been completely renovated with fully papered and painted and a wall to wall carpet replaced in a nice modern look new lighting has also been fitted old mantles have been put aside for safekeeping. all new table linens have been put on tables castle style linens have also been preserved for public use if required. The kitchen has been also fitted with a brand new modern kitchen as the old kitchen was not in keeping for health and safety rules of the times. The crockery has all been replaced and all cookers are in the middle of being replaced with new ones the air ventilation system has been modified in keeping with the modern day rules. Within the Castle a 10,000 brand new fire system has also been replaceced as the old fire system was very outdated this gives the castle a higher amount of people allowed at each event. The bathrooms have been renovated ladies and gents in keeping with new standards in both areas have new electric hand driers and also new toilet roll holders and new quick spray air fresheners that spray every few minutes and also new ladies bins for personal use. These have also been papered and repainted. The Graham suit bar has been renovated and has been redecorated with new bar pumps and new work surfaces wash basin has been replaced and new lighting installed. the year 2016 was a renovation year for inside the castle. the upper stair case has been revamped with a little history written on each stair leading to the Fintry suit. This is the year 2017 was the year Mains Castle won the Scottish award for venue of the year the staff where delighted with this award and it proudly hangs in the graham suit lounge. without the staff at the Castle this award would have not been achieved.

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