Dorlaithers Castle

Dorlaithers Castle stands in a quiet corner of Aberdeenshire, about four kilometres south-west of Turriff. The site lies south of the burn of Gask on low farmland. A farmhouse now covers the old foundations, so little remains above ground. The castle may once have been called North Darlaithers in other records. No written account tells when the builders raised its walls. Early maps describe a square outline before the land was levelled for farming. The castle’s vanished walls once marked an unremarkable but useful strongpoint. Its square plan suggests a modest tower rather than a grand palace. After centuries of use, the structure was cleared away and replaced by a modern farmhouse. The name survives only in local memory and occasional documents. Without carvings or ruins, the place offers no grand spectacle today. Visitors walk past the farm buildings and over the burn of Gask to reach the field. The ground shows no trace of the old castle except a slight rise where the tower stood. Sheep graze where the walls once defended the land. A short lane leads from the public road to the farm gate. The view stretches across rolling Aberdeenshire fields under wide skies.