Bonhard Castle was an L-plan tower house, dating from the 16th century, around south east of Bo'ness, in West Lothian, Scotland.Coventry Martin (1997) The Castles of Scotland. Goblinshead. p84 It was demolished in 1962.
Alternative names were Bonhard House, and Polkmyl Tower.
History The castle was owned by the Cornwalls of Bonhard. John Cornwall of Bonhard was killed at the battle of Flodden.Joseph Howard, Miscellanea Genealogica Et Heraldica, 2 (London, 1877), pp. 446–447. Peter Cornwall of Bonhard built a house in Linlithgow which included a stone dated 1527 with his coat of arms.Joseph Howard, Miscellanea Genealogica Et Heraldica, 2 (London, 1877), pp. 446. Nicholl Cornwall (1537–1607), younger of Bonhard, ignored a summons to fight during the Chaseabout Raid in 1565. Mary, Queen of Scots, gave his property to James Hamilton of Libberton.Gordon Donaldson, Register of the Privy Seal of Scotland, 5:2 (Edinburgh: HMSO, 1957), p. 26 no. 2562.
Nicholl Cornwall's property was restored and in 1592 he was provost of Linlithgow. He first married Agnes Halkett, a sister of George Halkett, the Conservator of the Scottish Staple. His second wife was Mary Stewart, a niece of Walter Stewart of Blantyre. A dovecote at Bonhard included a 1591 datestone carved with the initials "NC-MS" and conjoint heraldry. However, the heraldry is thought be that of the Setons of Lough rather than Stewart, and may refer to a third marriage.Joseph Howard, Miscellanea Genealogica Et Heraldica, 2 (London, 1877), pp. 446–447: The Architect (20 April 1888), p. 226. The family motto used on the stone was "We Beig Ye See Warli" – We build, you see, warily.David McGibbon and Thomas Ross, Castellated and Domestic Architecture, 3 (Edinburgh, 1889), p. 537.
Archibald Cornwall who worked for Edinburgh burgh council and was executed in 1601 is thought to have been a member of the Bonhard family.Duncan Macmillan, Scottish Art, 1460–1990 (Mainstream, 1990), p. 21.
Elizabeth Cornwall, Lady Dalmahoy, died at Bonhard in 1773.Joseph Howard, Miscellanea Genealogica Et Heraldica, 2 (London, 1877), p. 461. Subsequently, the castle was subdivided into farm-servant's dwellings, and altered internally. After it was burned out in 1959, it was blown up in 1962.
Structure
The tower, which stood in a commanding position, had three storeys and a garret, with a semi-octagonal stair tower in the re-entrant angle. The original doorway was at the foot of the stair tower.
There was a kitchen in the unvaulted basement, while the hall was on the first floor; there was 17th-century plasterwork on that floor.
The site is now occupied by a new house.
References
External links
'Bonhard House', Geoff Bailey, Falkirk History Society