Cowie Castle

Cowie Castle is a ruined fortress in Aberdeenshire, standing at the northern edge of Stonehaven beside the North Sea. The site overlooks the mouth of the Cowie Water, with the modern Cowie Bridge just to the south. Nearby ring cairns show people lived here as early as the Iron Age. The ruined Chapel of St Mary and St Nathalan stands immediately north of the castle, said to have been founded by St Nathalan himself. Three other castles lie within a few kilometres: Dunnottar to the south, Fetteresso to the south-west and Muchalls to the north.

The castle once controlled a key stretch of the Causey Mounth, a medieval trackway that linked Stonehaven to Aberdeen. This route was used by armies and travellers from at least the 11th century onwards. The same track also follows part of the Elsick Mounth, a Roman road used in their northern campaigns. Cowie Castle’s position let it watch both land and sea movements along the coast.

Only a small piece of masonry remains of the castle today, protected as a scheduled monument. The surrounding landscape is flat coastal farmland, with the sea a short walk to the east. The ruins sit quietly beside the modern road, offering a quiet place to stand where medieval kings once rested and armies marched north.