Glenbuchat Castle is a Z-plan castle built for John Gordon of Cairnburrow in 1590. In 1701 it was bought by a different branch of the Gordon family and became the home of another John Gordon who came to be known as 'Old Glenbucket' (an older spelling of Glenbuchat). He was a prominent supporter of the Jacobite cause and a hero of the Jacobite Risings of 1715 and 1745. Such was his infamy that he is said to have haunted the dreams of King George II. By 1738 the castle had been abandoned as the Gordon family home and was already partly unroofed when it was sold to the Duff Earl of Fife.
The castle consists of a rectangular central tower with two square towers at diagonally opposing corners. There are two stair turrets that rise from the first floor level and are unusually supported by flying arches. The main entrance was protected by a wooden door that could only be opened if the iron yett (gate) behind it was opened first. There were cellars and a kitchen on the ground floor and the laird's hall and accommodation above. The interior was remodelled, probably soon after 1701, when the laird's hall was divided into two rooms and the ceiling lowered in order to fit in another floor above
- Location:
- Off the A97 six miles west of Kildrummy
- Address:
- Glenbuchat Castle, Glenbuchat, Strathdon, Aberdeenshire
- Access:
- Historic Scotland. Open access at any reasonable time
- Website:
- For further information visit www.historic-scotland.gov.uk
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