We headed further north than usual today, continuing beyond Dundee deep into Angus. Our destination was Edzell Castle.

Built in the early 16th century, our first view was actually of the early 17th century walled garden and summerhouse, which a peacock was kind enough to pose in front of for us.

The gardens are laid out to the south of the castle, and feature niches in the walls for plants and nesting birds. It was built in 1604 by David Lindsay, the 11th Earl of Crawford.

At the south-east corner of the gardens is a summerhouse built in the style of a miniature castle.

The best view of the garden though is from inside the tower.

The tower itself was built in 1520 and is four storeys tall, rising to a height of 16 metres. It sits at the south-west corner of an enclosed courtyard.

To its north is a range of buildings added later in the 16th century, but its south wall has fallen and it is now open to the courtyard.

Connecting the tower and the north range is the west range, which includes the main gateway into the courtyard.

On our way back south we stopped off at another castle, Claypotts Castle in Dundee, which is completely different in scale and outlook.

Built between 1569 and 1588, it is a Z-plan tower house, which means that it has a central rectangular tower flanked at opposite corners by a pair of round towers.

It is given a unique appearance by having square garrets on top of the round towers.