The history of Edzell Castle dates to at least the 12th Century when the first castle was built at Edzell by the Abbott family. However the ruins, which you see today, date back to the early 16th century when Edzell Castle was the seat of the Lindsay family.

It was then that Sir David Lindsay built a pleasance garden for his second wife. Built in the style of an Italian Renaissance garden, it was an extravagant undertaking on which cost was not spared. The surrounding red walls, chequered with spaces for nesting boxes, are now picturesquely filled with blue, white and gold flowers recreating the colours of the family's coat of arms.  A unique relic of its kind in Scotland and a showpiece of the Renaissance, it is recorded that Mary Queen of Scots not only visited Edzell Castle but also held a meeting of her Privy Council here in 1562.

In 1715, the Earl of Panmure bought Edzell Castle only to have it forfeited shortly after, for his participation in the Jacobite uprisings.

In 1839 the local laird greatly expanded the existing settlement then known as Slateford. What emerged was Edzell, a Georgian planned village with a broad main street and a grid system of side streets.

Edzell has seen much change over its short history. A good example is the way the village was connected to the railway system in 1896, but lost its passenger service by 1931. This was before it gained its mains electricity in 1936 and eventually its freight in 1966.

An airfield was established just 2 miles east of the village during World War 1 but disbanded in 1919. Reopened as a civilian airfield in the 1930s and brought back into use as RAF Edzell in 1940 it was used for aircraft maintenance, with over 800 aircraft held in reserve at the end of World War II, before it closed for a second time. In 1960 RAF Edzell reopened as part of the US Navy’s Global HF direction finding network with up to 3000 personnel being stationed, tracking submarines and other targets around the world. With the end of the Cold War and the advent of new technology, the gates finally closed in September 1997

Edzell's population in 2004 was 780.

Landmarks

Visitors arriving from the south are greeted by the Dalhousie Arch. This most distinctive landmark was erected in 1887 to commemorate the 13^th Earl of Dalhousie.

On the High Street is the equally magnificent Inglis Memorial Hall, designed by Owers of Dundee, built in 1898 and gifted to the village by Sir Robert Inglis in memoriam of his father. Today the hall serves a range of uses including the village library.

Opposite the hall, The Glenesk Hotel was also built in 1898, and towards the north end of the village The Panmure Hotel.

The Parish Church Edzell and Lethnot set amid an area of parkland known as The Muir, was built in 1819 after being moved from the previous location near the castle

The Parish Church Edzell and Lethnot set amid an area of parkland known as the Muir, built in 1819 after being moved from its previous location near the castle.