Building record MAB7825 - COLQUHONNY CASTLE

Remains of a 16th century castle, said to have been built by Forbes of Towie.

Remains of a 16th century castle, said to have been built by Forbes of Towie. Also known as 'Colquhonnie Castle'. According to tradition it was never finished. It is not clear if there was ever a ditch or barmekin wall but any traces of a moat have been obliterated by later building. The remains consist of the massive ground-floor barrel-vaults and a fragment of the vaulted first floor of the east wing. The remains measure 13.9 m east-west by 12 m north-south, with walls 1.4 m thick. The walls are of large randomly-spaced granite boulders with smaller rubble pinnings. The walls stand to a height of about 8 m in the east portion. The entrance in the re-entrant angle is well protected by two gun-loops and a wide-mouthed shot-hole. A recess for keys or a lamp is positioned on the east side, within the door. The interior arrangements are somewhat obliterated, but the basement organisation is still discernible. A passage led from the door through to a spiral stair, now demolished, at the centre of the north wall. The basement was divided into three vaulted apartments: that at the northwest contained the kitchen, with a fireplace in the north wall; the southwest cellar has a small, vaulted room entering of it; the east wing contains the entrance. The upper storey of the east wing consisted of a vaulted private room, with several windows, mural recesses and a small fireplace in the east wall. Nothing survives above the basement level of the main block and it is questionable whether anything was ever built above that level.

ORDNANCE SURVEY, 1871, Ordnance Name Book, No81(1866) 71 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1360.

MACGIBBON, D, 1892, THE CASTELLATED AND DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE OF SCOTLAND, 1-5, VOL III, 459 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1140.

SIMPSON, WD, 1921, PSAS 55(1920-21) 135-149, 148-9, PLAN (Bibliographic reference). SAB1642.

GILES, J, 1936, DRAWINGS OF ABERDEEN CASTLES (Bibliographic reference). SAB587.

SIMPSON, WD, 1949, EARLDOM OF MAR, 120 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1681.

SCOTTISH MONUMENTS SURVEY, 1990, JAMES GILES - ABERDEENSHIRE CASTLES, p.6 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1738.

Jun 28 2016 , AAS-GR-16-06-035 - 041, AAS-GR-16-06-035 - 041 (Ground Photograph). SAB32330.

Author unknown, n.d., NSA, VOL 12,544 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1269.

Record last edited

May 8 2025 12:26PM