Esslemont Castle

Esslemont Castle stands as a ruined medieval tower house near Ellon in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It occupies a low hill once known as Eislemont, a name of Brittonic origin meaning ‘low hill’. The earliest record of the manor dates to the 14th century, when it passed from the Mareschal family to Francis le Chen of Straloch through marriage. In 1493 the castle was burned, but John Cheyne secured a licence to rebuild from James IV in 1500. The new tower featured iron yetts, machicolations, a portcullis and drawbridges. The castle became a barony in 1564 when Patrick Cheyne was created Baron of Esslemont. Queen Mary stayed there during her campaign against the Earl of Huntly. A feud with the Hays destroyed the stronghold, and by 1609 the name appeared as Essilmounthe. Regular occupation ended in 1625 when the estate passed to the Errol family. Excavations in 1938 uncovered the lower courses of an earlier L-shaped tower with walls 1.8 to 2.1 metres thick. Today the roofless remains show an L-plan castle with a staircase turret and a round tower at the south-east angle. The ground floor once housed the kitchen, its wide fireplace visible in the north gable. Three storeys survive despite missing dressed stones from windows. Dressed stones were taken for nearby building projects. The Gordon Arms can still be seen on the exterior walls.