The Earls of Angus held the castle until 1578, when their estates were forfeited by the young James V. James used Crawford as a hunting lodge until his own death in 1542. His mistress, Elizabeth Carmichael, was the daughter of the hereditary constable. After 1542 the barony was returned to the Earls of Angus, the keepership of the Carmichaels of Meadowflat coming to an end in 1595. In 1633 the 11th earl was created Marquess of Douglas, and the castle was probably rebuilt after this date. The castle then passed to the Duke of Hamilton, before being sold to Sir George Colebrooke in the 18th century. After a period of use as a farmhouse, the building was abandoned at the end of the 18th century, and much of the stone reused to build the present Crawford Castle Farm. Four stone tablets bearing coats of arms, one with the date 1648, are built into the west and south walls of the Castle Crawford House. Ruins The early earthworks of Crawford Castle comprise a motte around 5m high, with a surrounding ditch and a bailey some 45m by 33m to the south-west. On the motte are the remains of a curtain wall, surrounding an enclosure around 20m square. There may have been round towers at the corners of this enclosure, which probably dates to the 16th or early 17th centuries. A range of buildings on the south-west side of the castle were built at around the same time. This tower-like range was of three storeys, plus an attic, with a vaulted basement and projecting chimney-breast. To the south-east, a second range was added later in the 17th century, providing more spacious accommodation with larger windows. The prominent arched recess in the east wall suggests that a single storey building of some kind projected from the main structure at this location. Much of the present remains probably date from the 17th century rebuilding by the Marquess of Douglas. Crawford Castle is specified in a list of monuments published by the Minister of Public Building and Works under the Ancient Monuments Consolidation and Amendment Act 1913. It is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland lists the site as a castle or motte. Footnotes References Blaeu Atlas of Scotland, 1654, p. 61 Coventry, Martin The Castles of Scotland (3rd Edition), Goblinshead, 2001 Crawfurd, G. (1716),