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Public building, still in use. The frontage is from circa 1815, but the building incorporates earlier fabric. The first recorded building on the site is a castle that was in existence by 1178 in the reign of William the Lion (1165 to 1214). In 1297 the castle was destroyed by William Wallace. Its site, called the Castlestead, was granted to David Lindsay, fifth earl of Crawford, in 1488. It later became the property of the earls of Montrose and may be the birthplace of James Graham, first Marquis of Montrose, in 1612. The current building would appear to have been created from two earlier parallel and connected houses. It is shown on the OS maps from the 1st edition onward as a Z-plan building, with two canted bays to the northwest elevation. The single-storey and basement, 3-bay castellated façade on the principal northwest elevation is constructed from sandstone ashlar. It has an 8-step stone staircase with a cast-iron balustrade oversailing the raised basement. It leads to a round-arched entrance that is partially infilled. Flanking the entrance are full height canted windows. There is a band course above the basement and a corbel course above the doorway. The parapet is corniced and crenellated. The façade covers a 3-storey house, with painted and lined render to the sides and rear. To the rear is a grey slate pitched roof, with a flat roof to the front, with gablehead, wallhead and ridge stacks. There is a coped and rendered boundary wall to the front, and cast-iron railings with alternatively decorative finials above the basement.
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