Mains Castle

Mains Castle is a 16th century castle on the outskirts of Dundee that was built on the site of an earlier castle.

The land on which the castle was built originally belonged to the Stewarts but passed to the Douglas Earls of Angus in the 14th century and it was they who built the original castle. In the 16th century the castle became the property of the Graham family who named it Fintry Castle or Mains of Fintry Castle after their Fintry Castle in Stirlingshire.

In 1562 David Graham rebuilt it with a tall stair tower on the north side of a courtyard made up of lower ranges. The tower was extended further in 1630 with the addition of corbelled-out caphouse.

In the mid-18th century the Grahams abandoned the castle in favour of Linlathen House but continued to own it until they sold it to David Erskine in the 19th century. By 1913 the castle was in ruins when the estate was bought by Sir James Caird and gifted to the then Dundee Corporation, the estate becoming Caird Park.

The castle was restored in the 1980s by Dundee District Council and is now owned by Dundee City Council but leased as a venue for weddings.