Building record MAB8483 - DRUMMUIR CASTLE

Castle, commissioned by Admiral Archibald Duff in 1847, at the cost of £10,000, after inheriting the estate from his brother.

Castle, commissioned by Admiral Archibald Duff in 1847, at the cost of £10,000, after inheriting the estate from his brother. It was the home of the Lord Lieutenant of Banffshire.

The castle was designed by Thomas Mackenzie between 1846-1847, with additions by Alexander Reid, of A. and W. Reid, in 1865. There is an asymmetrical northeast front, with an entrance fronting a square, 3-storey tower constructed from coursed rubble with tooled and polished ashlar dressings. It is masked at ground level by a substantial porte-cochere with a large, Gothic, traceried window and angle turrets. The main outer ranges terminate with angle turrets rising above the wall head, and with a projecting library window at the left of the main entrance. A 2-storey service range and service court are linked to the main frontage by a single-storey, 4-bay block. A picturesque 7-bay southwest garden front had been somewhat regularised in 1865, by raising the west portion to three storeys. There is an advanced centre bay, with a projecting canted window rising two storeys above the raised basement. Shallow Tudor-arched lintels are used on the raised basement windows in southwest and northwest elevations. The first-floor fenestration is hood moulded, with square or horizontal multi-pane glazing. There is one drum and one corbelled octagonal angle drum tower. The ground-floor fenestration is also hood moulded, with corbelled and crenelated wall heads, batteries of tall, coped stacks, and slate roofs. There are two 17th Century Duff armorials re-set in the wall of the service court. The castle has recently been restored, as of November 2022.

Inside, there is a double-leafed studded entrance door, with applied Gothic detailing leading to an octagonal vestibule with a lierne ribbed ceiling and central boss. There are angle niches under cusped canopies and a glazed door to a stair hall with cusped detailing and a cusped fanlight. There is an entrance to the left to the billiard room. The stair hall is top lit under the 3-storey tower. There is a broad staircase, with a cusped, moulded, wooden balustrade and a compartmented boarded ceiling with armorial bosses. The library has a white marble chimneypiece with a later cast-iron grate and late-19th century bookcases. The drawing room has a cusped panelled dado and doors. The window shutters are all painted white, with gold detailing. There is very unusual white and gold wallpaper from 1847, which was reproduced and replaced in 1988. There is a cusped, panelled, white marble chimneypiece and a decorative plaster ceiling. The boudoir is between the drawing and the dining rooms. It is a small octagonal room, with surviving 1847 white and gold decoration and panelled fittings, as found in the drawing room. The dining room has a green and gold painted, cusped, panelled dado and doors. There are shutters and monogrammed doors. The original Celtic scrolled wallpaper from 1847 is in place, and there is a decorative plaster ceiling. There are French windows to the garden, which are a later enlargement of the window. The first-floor landing has an arcaded landing that surrounds an open, central, square, balustraded void under the tower. Each side is supported by paired Tudor arches, with a Tudor rose motif in the spandrels.

There is a walled garden to the south (MAB8563) and the site of pheasantry to the east (MAB51551). The original house was superseded by Kirkton House in circa 1700. The Porter's Lodge and the kennels date to 1845. The lodge, the stables, and the mansion house were built, as well as the later Factor's House, between 1845-1846, with the Gate Lodge built in 1897. A report of list of defects was given in support of demolition 1908.

MCKEAN, C, 1987, MORAY: AN ILLUSTRATED ARCHITECTURAL GUIDE, p.145-6 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1142.

Aug 20 1988 , HP 1-13, HP 1-13 (Ground Photograph). SAB30639.

Feb 17 2000 , AAS/00/05/CT78, AAS/00/05/CT78 (Air-oblique Photograph). SAB31523.

Author unknown, n.d., THE NORTHERN SCOT, 12/07/80 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1270.

Author unknown, n.d., THE NORTHERN SCOT, 24/06/88 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1270.

Record last edited

Oct 2 2026 8:46PM