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Barra Castle is an excellent example of a fortified Laird's house. It is a complicated variation of the L-plan castle, with its main block lying north-south and a wing projecting east from the south end to form two re-entrants, one being occupied by a circular stair-tower. Although generally assumed to have been built in the early 17th Century, there is probably an earlier nucleus as the King family lived here from the mid 13th Century for 300 years. An 18th Century addition extends east from the north end of the main block thus forming three sides of a square, a curtain wall forming the fourth side of the fore-court. This wall is pierced by an entrance. The gatepiers to the forecourt probably date from 1753, and are of simple square pattern with ball finials. A formal walled-garden lay to the south of the castle but little now remains except a terrace, what may have been a bowling green, and one of the summer houses which formerly occupied at least two of the corners. The garden probably dates from 1753 in its present form, perhaps incorporating older work. A watching brief was undertaken in November 2002 by S. Farrell over the creation of car parking, the installation of services and some internal alterations. No finds or features were revealed during the external works. The internal works had already begun prior to the archaeologist being present. All that was noted were the brace remains of a fireplace in the east gable on the ground and second floors. In January 2003, a watching brief was carried out by MAS over improvements being made to the south and east sides of the courtyard. This work involved the lifting of some existing flagstones and levelling the surface below and the replacement of an area of rough and broken cobbling and its replacement with new flagstones. Two features of interest were recorded during the watching brief, a small area of cobbling, on the west side of the courtyard, which is all that survived of a wider cobbled area, and a cobbled drain, in the north side and east corner of the courtyard. Although it was not possible to establish any definite stratigraphic relationship between the features, it is entirely possible that the drain was inserted to drain the earlier cobbled courtyard. No material evidence was found to date the features, and it is not possible to say if they are contemporary with the building of the 18th century north wing, or if they belong to an earlier, possibly 17th century, phase of the castle's development. In June - July 2009, Kirkdale Archaeology was commissioned by Historic Scotland to carry out a standing building survey over the castle, and in particular to record some alterations that had been made to the fabric of the castle. Using information gathered during the survey, an initial periodisation of the castle integrating the archaeological phases with a base line historical architectural assessment was proposed, as follows. Period 1: 15th-16th century, Owners: Blackhall/ King, Tower extended further to the east than the present version and possibly had a first floor entrance. It was much altered in later periods but may have formed basis for the reduced southeast Tower. Period 2: Early 17th century-early 18th century (Archaeological Phase 1), Owners: Seton/ Reid, west range and southeast Tower - the castle was raised to its present height in the early 17th century by George Seton, date stones 1614 and 1618. A large circular stair tower was erected to link the earlier tower with the west range, providing a grand entrance to the first floor hall. It is unknown if the hall extended the full length of the west range, as the north end of the west range has undergone rebuilding (Period 4). However, it would be normal for a progression through the hall to another chamber, possibly at the north end of the west range, although in turn, this could have been upstairs. Period 3: Early - mid 18th Century (Archaeological Phase 2), Owners: Reid: during the 18th Century the hall was subdivided and a new door constructed at the west end of the cross wall. Remodelling / refurbishment of interiors was also carried out, such as new wood panelling, including monograms, in the southeast tower and hall (the latter was mostly replaced in the 1909 restoration). Period 4: Mid-late 18th century, Owners: Ramsay: a two-storey north range and pavilions in the outer court were added, the north end of the west range rebuilt, and the axis of the castle complex aligned to east-west. Period 5: Late 18th-early 20th century, during this period the building was only partially occupied, and during the late 18th and 19th century most of the building was used as a farmhouse (1766-1909). The hall was divided into 3 rooms and many windows blocked. During the early 19th century, heightening of the north wing and remodelling of the upper part of the north end of the west range took place. Period 6: 1909 (Archaeological Phase 3) saw the restoration of the west and south ranges by architect George Bennet Mitchell. This included the possible replacement of panelling in the hall, retaining a monogram panel. The interior north wall of the hall was possibly cut back/ refaced to show full extent of earlier fireplace. Period 7: Late 20th century saw the rebuilding of the upper part of the east gable of the north range. The archaeological phases described above provide a framework on which further analysis of the castle can be supported. They represent a baseline interpretation due in particular to the difficulty connecting features to the north and south of the cross wall. The variation in aperture size, morphology and location either side of the cross wall has been explained by the rebuilding of much of the north end of the west range, and this remains speculative. The exterior of the castle is of random rubble build with little geological variation, except in the makeup of the north wing, and this inhibits the understanding of its fabric. The best evidence comes from the reduced height of the northwest corner tower when compared to the others, and it is possible that this was never built to a greater height, rather than it being reduced. A watching brief was carried out in September 2012 by MAS during works within the castle, and during the removal of cobbles and the laying of new flagstones in the courtyard (this followed on from a watching brief in 2003 during the removal of cobbles and flags along the west and north sides of the courtyard prior to resurfacing). Two small pieces of tobacco pipe were the only artefacts recovered beneath the cobbles - there was no evidence of earlier surviving features.
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Historic Environment Records (HER)