Craigievar Castle

Craigievar Castle stands in rolling farmland six miles south of Alford in Aberdeenshire. Built as a fortified house in the early 17th century, its pink-harled walls rise seven storeys above a grassy mound. The L-shaped plan shows the Scottish baronial style at its most confident, with rounded turrets and crow-stepped gables. A single round tower remains of the original walled courtyard, its arched door bearing carved initials from 1620. Inside, massive oak doors and an iron yett guard the entrance, while outside the landscape carries traces of 18th- and 19th-century planting. The castle belonged to the Forbes family for three and a half centuries until they gave it to the National Trust for Scotland in 1963. William Forbes, a merchant known as Danzig Willy, bought the half-built structure in 1610 and completed it by 1626. His descendants included baronets who sat in Parliament and married into the Sempill earldom. The interior still holds their portraits, furniture and two original Henry Raeburn paintings with their receipts. Crafted plaster ceilings depict the Nine Worthies and family emblems, recognised as among Scotland’s finest. Visitors walk through the Great Hall with its Stuart Arms over the fireplace and climb the secret stair to the high tower. The Queen’s Bedroom and servants’ quarters remain furnished as they were, lit only by daylight through the windows. Outside, ornamental conifers and a 1930s rock garden frame the 200-acre estate. A restored oak door, missing since 1825, now stands on display. The castle’s limewashed walls have been returned to their original shade, completing a careful return to the 1820s appearance.