In 1999, Barholm Castle in Galloway had lain ruinous and derelict for over two hundred years when Janet Brennan-Inglis and her husband John bought it as a restoration project. Together with a team of architects, surveyors and builders, overseen by Historic Scotland, they turned this sixteenth-century tower house into a domestic residence once again – this time with central heating, bathrooms and a twenty-first-century kitchen. Since the restoration, they have researched the history of Barholm Castle and the McCulloch family who owned it; the stories they uncovered and the account of the painstaking restoration of Barholm Castle are told in this book.

Having restored the tower, Janet and John turned their attention to the ground around it and set about developing a very special garden landscape. The third part of the book describes the process of transforming the wild area surrounding the castle into a series of mature gardens, providing a colourful and dramatic setting for the castle.



Janet Brennan-Inglis graduated from the University of Edinburgh and gained a PhD in the restoration of Scottish castles from the University of Dundee. After working in education in the Netherlands for 25 years, she retired to live in Dumfries and Galloway, where she and her husband had bought and restored a sixteenth-century ruined castle. She is a former chair of the Scottish Castles Association and is Chair of the Galloway group of the National Trust for Scotland as well as a board member of Historic Environment Scotland, and is the author of A Passion for Castles (2023).



'Janet Brennan-Inglis has done wonders for Scottish castles, tower-houses, and much else: this new book of hers is a tribute to and record of a remarkable achievement'