#168 Castle Gogar
Lothians (7 miles west of Edinburgh Castle), Scotland
1625
This is NOT an official Lego site

The first Castle Gogar (or Gogar House) was built on the property about 1300 by the Forresters of Corstorphine, and traces of its foundation can apparently be seen in the current tower house.  The lands had been given to Clan Seton by Robert the Bruce, then passed to the Halyburtons about 1409. In 1601 John Couper bought the property, and it was his son, Adam Couper, who built the castle in 1625.  While the renowned Martin Coventry describes the castle as "a large 17th-century L-plan" where "the main block and offset wing join only at the corners", the presence of the round tower at the NE corner of the main block makes the castle in effect a "Y-plan".  Both the main block and wing have corner bartizans, and the stair tower in the re-entrant angle rises to a balconied flat roof.  The basement is vaulted, and the walls pierced by several gun loops.  The castle was near a Civil War skirmish between Cromwell's army and the Scot under General David Leslie, but has otherwise been untouched by war.
The castle was apparently in the hands of Clan Couper until an Edinburgh banker, William Ramsay of Barnton, a director of the Royal Bank of Scotland, bought Gogar House (as it was known then) for £37,000 in 1789.  Mrs. Ramsay and her son George went out to look over Gogar House in April 1792, and were “pleased with the grandeur and substantial appearance of the Place”.  Later in that year, William observed that “the beauty and value” of Gogar far exceeded his expectations.  George, later known for his hunting and coaching exploits, married Miss Jean Hamilton of Wishaw, and between 1793 and 1804, their children were born at Gogar. His daughter Susan married Alexander Gibson-Maitland.  The Gibson-Maitland and later Steel-Maitland families owned Castle Gogar for more than 200 years, until in 2002 Lady Brenda Steel-Maitland bequeathed the property to her dear friend and tenant Gordon Stewart.  The castle was purchased by Scott and Lesley Seath in 2003, and has been lovingly restored.

 

Plans, Elevations & Cross-sections
Ground Floor Plan First Floor Plan Second Floor Plan Etching of the castle from the south Etching of the castle
from the northeast

 

Photos of the Lego Model
under construction, February 2018
 
Castle Gogar was laid out on February 6,
but on February 7 we hoped in our car...
...and headed for golf and visits
with old friends in much warmer
Florida, so the project paused.
Construction resumed on February 19,
with the ground level completed...
...and gun loops carefully
positioned, replacing current
ground level windows.
On February 21 the first floor is added. Bartizans will be coming soon. The round tower poses it own
problems.
And accents in light gray must
be in the correct locations!
By February 26 the second floor
is in place...
...with bartizans  rising both
on the end of the hall
(main) block...
...but on the corner of the kitchen
wing as well.
I've made the round tower's
window panes a tad wider so they
better fit the "circular" pattern.
It's now March 1 and Castle Gogar
is ready to roof.
Bartizans are complete, but
I'm awaiting wedge plates
to start the roofs.
The roof of the 17-stud diameter
 tower must be melded into that
that of the main block...
The results, with my first
dark bluish gray "slate" roof
will be awesome. SEE BELOW!

 

Photos of the Lego Model
Built February-March 2018
 
On March 3 the final pieces
arrive in the mail, and Castle
Gogar is finished.
The balconied stair tower
is reminiscent of famous
Craigievar Castle [which see].
In addition the bartizans
are two- and three-stories
tall.
All together an awesome
model of an awesome
tower house.
The current kitchen wing
has a 3-sided protrusion
which is doubtless modern.
The view from the north
really highlights the Y shape
of the castle.
It's just a pleasure to
take a Lego-based mini
e-stroll around Castle
Gogar!
Round tower and turrets
are seemingly everywhere.
This was a fun castle
to model on several
levels.

 

Build Your Own
Lego Plan Plan of Baseplates
Northwest Elevation Southeast Elevation Northeast Elevation


Other Castle Gogar pages (very little available):
https://canmore.org.uk/site/50717/edinburgh-glasgow-road-castle-gogar?display=collection&GROUPCATEGORY=5
http://thereserve-asia.com/gogar-castle-scotland/

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main castle page.

Castles created by Robert Carney

Page designed by Robert Carney &
Anne Sullivan
Page maintained by
Robert Carney