The castle at Invermark as it stands now was built by the
Lindsay family in around 1530 (although there was another castle
that stood here from around 1300). The Lindsay family at the
time were the Lairds of Angus, owning vast areas of land and were a
long standing important family in Scotland. In 1320 Sir David
Lindsay among the signatories of the Declaration of Arbroath. As
well as Invermark the family have been responsible for building
Crawford Castle, Carsluith Castle, Craigie castle (all on the west
of Scotland) Spynie Palace near Elgin, Lordscairnie castle in Fife
as well as the nearby Edzell castle amongst others.
The castle here was used as a refuge by the locals when the
caterans descended on the glen to steal cattle (and whatever else
they could get their hands on). It certainly seemed substantial
enough to offer some protection. The basement walls are 5 ft thick
and the main entrance stands 9 feet off the ground! It is
thought that there was originally a draw bridge from the entrance
to the roof of one of the outbuildings Unfortunately the
outbuildings were taken down in the early 1800s so the stone could
be used to build the Lochlee Church and manse at the end of the
public road many of the church slates were originally from a 1605
improvement. (Planning regulations were obviously a lot more lax in
1800...) Although the drawbridge and wooden door are long gone the
metal yett is still in place. Local tradition says that the yett
was made made from Glenesk mined iron although looking at it, it
doesn't seem to have been originally made for Invermark, the shape
not fitting the opening!
It wasn't just the local farmers who sought refuge here. David
Lindsay fled to here in 1607 after killing Lord Spynie in Edinburgh
and Lord Balnamoon hid from government troops here after the battle
of Culloden. The Lindsay family used the castle as an occasional
home until at least 1729 but by the end of the century the castle
was in ruins.
The cache is a short walk past the ruins. Parking is at the end
of the glen. It is worthwhile to continue on your walk from here to
Loch Lee sitting impressively at the head of the glen
Please make sure the cache can't be seen through its hiding
place from the path - thanks
Cache is a 350ml lock and lock box