Middle Ages Origins
The lower course of this L Plan Castle is the original 14th century ground level of the Clan Fraser towerhouse. On this level are a dungeon, guard room, storerooms, a chamber for merchants and visitors waiting to see the Laird, and a medieval kitchen. In the medieval kitchen the interior wall is over 4.5 metres thick, accommodating a hidden staircase and affording bearing strength to support the upper levels. A long hall passageway was constructed as a barrel vaulted design. The dungeon is noted for its small window and still has the large steel hinges to which the dungeon door would have attached. The medieval kitchen has its original 14th century flagstones; moreover, this room features a large walk-in fireplace with a secret spiral staircase that servants would have used in medieval times to carry meals to the higher levels. (Servants at that time would have not been allowed on the main staircases used by the nobility who dwelt in the castle.) Ownership of the castle and lands passed to the Hays in the 15th century probably associated with the same real estate transaction of the lands of Ury in 1413 AD.
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