List of castles in Scotland

Scholars debate the scope of the word "castle", but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble.

[2][3] By the late 14th century, the large curtain-walled castles had begun to give way to more modest tower houses – vertical dwellings with less formidable defences.

This type of vertical house continued to be popular with Scotland's landowning class through to the late 17th century, when classical architecture made its first appearance in the country.

Meanwhile, the advance of artillery pressed military engineers to devise stronger fortifications for important royal strongholds.

Tower houses and castles were often given painted ceilings and decorative plasterwork in the 16th and 17th centuries, employing distinctive national styles.