Historic Places in Aberdeenshire

Abergeldie Castle is six miles west of Ballater on the banks of the River Dee. From Aberdeen take the A93 Abergeldie Castle is a tower house style of castle located in Royal Deeside near the Royal Family country home at Balmoral near Ballater. The castle is three storeys tall with an attic in height and vaulted basement. The Great Hall on the first floor is vaulted. The interior has been restored and is in original condition. The Castle was built in the 16th century by Sir Alexander Gordon of Midmar who later became the Earl of Huntly. The Castle remained in the Gordon family for years, except for a short time during the first Jacobite rising when it was used it as a troop garrison. Price Albert obtained a long term lease of the castle in 1848, and future generations of Royals, including King Edward VII and George V used the Castle as a summer home. Legends Abergeldie Castle is supposed to be haunted by "French Kate" the ghost of a French women called Kittie Rankie. Poor Kate was wrongly accused on being a witch and burnt at the stake. Her ghost has been seen in the Castle cellars where she was imprisoned before her execution.

Balfluig Castle is a Scottish Baronial style tower house 2 miles south east of Alford. It was built in the 16th century (the date above the door is 1556). Balfluig was originally the seat of the Forbes clan, but was sold to the Farquharsons in 1753. The castle was restored in 1968 and now and is now available as holiday accommodation and can be rented on a self catering basis. The castle sits in four and a quarter acres and their is a private garden around the castle.

Balmoral Castle is a large estate house on Royal Deeside in Aberdeenshire. The estate covers about 50,000 acres. The castle is privately owned by the British royal family. The castle grounds, gardens, exhibitions, gift shop and the coffee shop are open to the public. The Balmoral Estate was purchased by Queen Victoria in 1848, and has been the Scottish Home of the British Royal Family ever since. The Castle now on the site was completed in 1856 (an older castle was demolished after completion of the new building).

Birse Castle is located in the Forest of Birse, Aberdeenshire. The original structure was a square three-storey tower house with turrets and a corbelled circular tower at the south east The castle is a B-listed historic site. The building is owned by Viscount Cowdry, Dunecht House, Dunecht, Aberdeen. Birse Castle was built about 1600 for the Gordons of Cluny. When the Gordons built Birse Castle, they encroached upon The Forest of Birse, which consisted of about 24 farms. Eighteen of these were owned by the Gordons, but the owners of the other six farms did not take too kindly to the Gordons intrusion and burned down the castle about 1640 .The castle was a ruin by 1887, but restoration started in 1905. In 1930 a three-storey wing was added.

Braemar Castle, near Braemar in Aberdeenshire has distinctive turrets and a star-shaped curtain wall. The main entrance to the castle has an original iron yett ( a heavy iron latticed gate). Areas of the main building including its dungeons are open to tourists all year round, and the castle chapel and dining room may be rented for weddings and small functions. The first tower of Braemar Castle was built in 1628 by John Erskine, the 7th Earl of Mar. During the Jacobite uprising, Braemar was attacked and burned in 1689. The castle was left in ruins for nearly 60 years until after the Jacobite rebellion in 1745. With the rebellion in tatters it was leased to the government in 1748 by Clan Farquharson to serve as a garrison for the English government troops. In some rooms, graffiti left by the English soldiers can still be seen. In 1797 the castle was returned to the Farquharson clan who commenced restoration. Queen Victoria visited while she attended the Braemar Gathering.

Castle Fraser is a well-preserved elaborate five storey tower building near Inverurie, built from local granite. Castle Fraser has a Z-shaped architecture with a main rectangular building and two towers at diagonally opposing corners of the rectangle. This was a popular style of Scottish castle. The Entrance Hall has a display of weaponry. The castle was originally known as Muchall-in-Mar. The Frasers began construction in 1575 and the castle was completed in 1636. The castle stands in over 300 acres of open woodland and farmland, including a walled garden. It is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland and is open to tourists during the summer months. It can also be hired for weddings and corporate events. The Arts Castle Fraser has recently been used as a backdrop for some of the scenes shot in the BAFTA, Golden Globe and Academy Award winning film "The Queen", starring Helen Mirren. Legends Legend has it that a Princess was murdered in The Green Room, and then her body was dragged down the castle stairs leaving a trail of blood. The bloodstains could not be scrubbed away and were covered with wood panelling. It is said she still walks the castle at night and unexplained ghostly piano music has been heard in the castle at night.

Castle of Park near Cornhill in Aberdeenshire is a privately owned sixteenth-century tower house built in 1563 by George Gordon, used today for conferences, holidays and events. The castle's handsome exterior with turrets, crow-stepped gables and traditional harled walls is typical of the vernacular baronial architecture of the northeast Scottish countryside. Built by a member of the great Gordon family who dominated northeast Scotland throughout the medieval and early modern periods, the castle is one of a remarkable concentration of tower houses in Aberdeenshire. The county's Castle Trail encompasses over seventy historic sites, and from the great state-cared castles of Crathes and Craigievar to numerous privately owned tower houses like Castle of Park, Aberdeenshire offers the finest concentration of historic castle architecture in Scotland.

Cluny Castle was built in 1604. Major extensions and renovations in the 19th century turned in into a large mansion in the castellated style designed by John Smith. This extract from a paper in 1832 gives an idea of the extent of the renovations …"The house that John Smith designed for Colonel Gordon was considerably more ambitious than either of the two proceeding schemes for enlargement. Like them its starting point was the old Z castle, and indeed Smith preserved to a certain extent the fantastic profile of the 1604 building so that even today Cluny is one of the oddest houses in the north-east, with the most extraordinary array of turrets and towers. His scheme involved building a replica of the old tower someway to the east of its predecessor and linking the two by a central block."

Corgarff Castle is situated 20 miles north of Braemar, near the Cockbridge to Tomintoul Road - this is one of the first roads in Scotland to be blocked by snow in winter. Corgarff Castle has been of strategic importance, guarding the quickest route from Deeside to Speyside and the Moray Firth. Corgarff Castle was built by the Forbes family around 1550 as a tower house with a walled enclosure. The Forbes family were supporters of side who wanted James VI as king of Scotland. They became involved in a feud with the Gordon family from Auchindoun who were supporters of Mary Queen of Scots. In 1571 the Gordons tried to capture Corgarff and ended up burning it down killing everyone inside the castle except for the lady of the house, Margaret Forbes. Corgarff was used as a mustering point by the Royalist forces in Scotland during the Civil War. In 1689 Corgarff was burned down again by the Jacobites to prevent it being used as a base by supporters of William of Orange. In 1715, John Erskine, 22nd Earl of Mar launched the Jacobite rising from Kildrummy Castle, further down Strathdon. He then came to Corgarff to assemble and equip his army. After the eventual defeat of the 1715 Jacobite rising, Government forces burned down Corgarff yet again. The government gave the castle back to the Forbes family. During the final Jacobite uprising in 1745, the Jacobite forces used Corgarff Castle as an arms store. In early 1746 the Jacobites were forced to flee when hundreds of Government foot soldiers arrived unexpectedly. The fleeing Jacobites left large quantities of gunpowder and muskets behind. A few weeks later the Jacobite forces were defeated at the Battle of Culloden, although the loss of the Corgarff weapons was not a big factor in the defeat. After the 1745 rebellion was quashed, the government stationed troops across the country to prevent further uprisings. In 1748 Corgarff Castle was converted into barracks, and during this period the current star shaped encircling wall was built. From 1802 the Castle was used as a farmhouse. The castle went into decline and its last residents left during the First World War. The State took over the running of Corgarff Castle in 1961 and it has been recently restored by Historic Scotland.

Craigievar Castle is a seven-storey tower castle built in Scottish Baronial style, located six miles south of Alford, Aberdeenshire. The castle has a fairy tale appearance with its solid base and ornate turrets and gargoyles, with the whole castle harled a pinkish colour. Craigievar is noted for its exceptionally crafted plasterwork ceilings. The castle as a secret staircase connecting the high tower to the Great Hall. The setting is beautiful with parkland featuring magnificent specimen trees, and extensive views over the surrounding countryside to the Grampian Mountains. The castle and estate of adjoining farmlands and woodlands are owned by the National Trust for Scotland. The castle is normally open to tourists during the summer months, although was closed from August 2007 for major reharling work. The castle has holiday accommodation available at the Steading cottage and kennels cottage from April to the end of October Craigievar Castle was completed in 1626 by the Aberdonian merchant William Forbes. The Forbes family resided here for 350 years until 1963, when the property was gifted to the National Trust for Scotland. The castle originally had a walled courtyard with four round towers - only one of the round towers remains today. There was also a massive iron yett or gate covering the entrance door.

Craigston Castle, built between 1604 and 1607, is a historic home of the Urquhart family. The castle is composed of two main wings connected by a high arch over the entrance. There is a corbelled parapet at the top. There are bases for corner turrets near the top corner of each wing, but the turrets do not appear to have ever been completed. The castle is open to visitors for a few weeks of the year.

Crathes Castle is located on the A93 from Aberdeen, heading towards Banchory. Crathes Castle is a 16th century tower house castle with beautiful formal gardens, located near Banchory in Aberdeenshire. The castle and grounds are presently owned and managed by the National Trust for Scotland and are open to the public. The castle estate cover 530 acres of woodlands and fields, including nearly four acres of walled garden. Ancient topiary hedges of Irish yew dating from 1702 separate the gardens into eight themed areas. The castle contains a significant collection of portraits, and still has original Jacobean painted ceilings in several rooms. Crathes is built on land given as a gift to the Burnett of Leys family by King Robert the Bruce in 1323. (Along with the land, Robert the Bruce also gave them the jeweled ivory Horn of Leys, which is now on display in the Great Hall of the castle.) The castle construction started in 1553 and was completed in 1596. The East-west wing was added in the 18th Century. Crathes Castle was the ancestral seat of the Burnetts of Leys family until gifted to the National Trust for Scotland in 1951. A fire damaged portions of the castle (in particular the Queen Anne wing) in 1966. Legends The Green Lady's Room is supposedly haunted by the ghost of a lady carrying a baby. The ghost of the woman and baby has been seen crossing the room before vanishing near the fireplace. Sightings first appeared in the 18th Century when workmen renovating the room uncovered skeletons under the hearthstone. The Green Lady of Crathes Castle is not often seen these days - it is said that when she is seen a member of the Burnett family will die.

Delgatie Castle is situated near Turriff, in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The castle is made up of a keep, adjoining house and two later wings. It has a wide turnpike stair and painted ceilings dating from the 16th century in some rooms. Delgatie Castle is owned by the Delgatie Castle Trust, and the castle and gardens is open to the public all year round. The castle provides meals and has self catering accommodation in the castle and the coachhouse. Weddings and conferences are catered for. The earliest castle on the site of Delgatie Castle dates back to 1030 AD. The castle was forcibly taken from Henry de Beaumont, Earl of Buchan after the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 and given to Clan Hay. Delgatie was rebuilt in the 16th century. Mary, Queen of Scots was a guest at the castle in 1562 after the Battle of Corrichie. In 1570, greater fortifications were added including 8-14 feet thick walls. The main tower dates from about 1100. It was extended and a battlement walk added in 1579. Both wings were added in 1743 along with the chapel and dovecote on the west and the kitchen and servants' quarters on the east. Some of the rooms still have original 16-century painted ceilings - some of the finest in Scotland. Legends The castle is said to be haunted by a ghostly red-haired figure who was seen by soldiers posted there during the Second World War.

Drum Castle is situated near Drumoak in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The castle is on a ridge overlooking the River Dee, about ten miles from Aberdeen. It was the seat of the chief of Clan Irvine from 1323 to 1975. The castle is surrounded by late 18th century gardens, including a rose garden and arboretum containing trees from all regions of the British Empire. The castle is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland and is open to the public during the summer. The chapel and dining hall are available for hire for weddings and corporate functions. The castle hosts a number of local events such as classic car rallies and musical fetes. Drum Castle was built as a tower house in the 13th century. It is believed to be one of the three oldest tower houses in Scotland. It was extended in 1619 when a large wing was added. Further renovations and alterations were made in Victorian times. The castle and its grounds were granted to William de Irwyn in 1325 by Robert the Bruce, and remained in the possession of Clan Irvine until 1975.

Drumtochty Castle is a Scottish Baronial country house in the Howe of the Mearns near Auchenblae in Aberdeenshire, incorporating a medieval tower house within a substantially expanded Victorian mansion. The surrounding Howe of the Mearns, the flat agricultural basin between the Grampian foothills and the Angus coast, is the setting for Lewis Grassic Gibbon's A Scots Quair trilogy, which documents the social and agricultural history of the northeast Scottish farming community and gives the area particular literary significance. The castle and its estate occupy the wooded foothills south of the Grampian massif, and the Drumtochty Glen is a popular walking and picnicking destination for visitors to the Mearns.