Castle of Rattray

The Castle of Rattray stands on Castlehill, a grassy mound beside the now-closed estuary of Strathbeg Bay in north-east Aberdeenshire. Once a defensive motte built in the late 12th or early 13th century, it guarded Starny Keppie Harbour and the village of Rattray. William Comyn, Earl of Buchan, strengthened the site between 1214 and 1233 with a timber castle and a manor house that included a fine timber-framed hall. The Comyns’ stronghold was destroyed in 1308 during the Harrying of Buchan after Robert the Bruce’s forces defeated John Comyn at the Battle of Barra. A later stone castle rose on the same spot and survived until a great storm in 1720 buried it beneath sand along with much of the village. The castle’s history is marked by shifts in power and ownership across six centuries. After the Comyns lost control, the lands passed to Sir Archibald Douglas in 1324, then to Alexander Stewart in 1382. Mary, Queen of Scots, declared Rattray a Royal Burgh in 1563 to settle disputes between the Earls Marischal and Erroll, though its privileges were short-lived. The site was managed by feudal superiors such as David Rivis and Charles Hay, Earl of Erroll, who granted charters in 1617, 1675 and 1711. Tradition claims the castle and village were overwhelmed during the 1720 storm while villagers played cards on a Sunday. Visitors today see a grassy mound rising about 12 metres above the surrounding ground, its summit covering roughly a quarter of a hectare. Excavations in the 1980s uncovered the stone castle’s perimeter wall and two mural buildings, revealing a structure about 20 metres long and 6.5 metres wide divided into three rooms. Finds included hearthstones, silver coins and kiln stands now held in Marischal Museum. The site offers a quiet reminder of a once-busy harbour town, its buried past visible only in the shape of the mound and the occasional artefact displayed in Aberdeen.