[4] Balvaird is first mentioned in the written historical record in 1498 as 'the place of Balward' in the Register of the Great Seal of Scotland.

An outer courtyard was attached to the main gate which possibly contained stabling as well as adding an extra layer of defence to the castle.

The family continued to live at Balvaird until they were elevated to the Viscountcy of Stormont (ancestors of the Earldom of Mansfield) and in 1658 moved to the rather more comfortable Scone Palace, near Perth.

In 1887, MacGibbon & Ross note the presence of a 'recumbent statue lying in the castle', that could have been that of Lady Margaret Barclay, who married the first Sir Andrew Murray in 1495.

[6] Having been restored and partially excavated in recent years by Historic Scotland, by whom it is maintained, the castle is a particularly fine and complete example of a traditional late medieval Scottish tower house.