Fedderate Castle

Fedderate Castle stands in a quiet field near New Deer in Aberdeenshire. Built in 1474 by the Crawford family, it was later enlarged in 1519. The ruins still show tall walls up to nine metres and foundations six feet thick. A stone causeway once carried visitors over a drained moat to the entrance. The castle’s remains cover a small rise above flat farmland. The castle’s past includes a dramatic escape in 1590 when Robert Keith fled there after losing Deer Abbey. In 1690 Jacobite forces held the castle against government troops for more than three weeks before surrendering. The army tried to destroy the structure to clear the land, leaving it a scheduled monument today. Visitors find grass-grown mounds and crumbling walls among farm tracks. The site is open to walkers who can trace the line of the old drawbridge and causeway. A low bank marks where the moat once held water. The flat fields around stretch to distant hills on clear days.