Crathes Castle (pronounced ) is a
castle
A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...
, built in the 16th century, near
Banchory
Banchory (, , ) is a burgh or town in Aberdeenshire, historically in Kincardineshire, Scotland. It is about west of Aberdeen, near where the Feugh River meets the River Dee.
Prehistory and archaeology
In 2009, a farmer discovered a short ...
in
Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland.
It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...
,
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
. It is in the historic county of
Kincardineshire
Kincardineshire or the County of Kincardine, also known as the Mearns (from the Scottish Gaelic meaning "the stewartry"), is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area on the ...
. This
harl
Harling is a roughcast, rough-cast wall finish consisting of lime and aggregate, known for its rough texture. Many castles and other buildings in Scotland and Ulster have walls finished with harling. It is also used on contemporary buildings, w ...
ed castle was built by the Burnetts of Leys and was owned by the family for almost 400 years. The castle and its grounds are currently owned and managed by the
National Trust for Scotland
The National Trust for Scotland () is a Scottish Building preservation and conservation trusts in the UK, conservation organisation. It is the largest membership organisation in Scotland and describes itself as "the charity that cares for, sha ...
and are open to the public.
History
Crathes sits on land given as a gift to the
Burnetts of Ley family by King
Robert the Bruce
Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (), was King of Scots from 1306 until his death in 1329. Robert led Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland during the First War of Scottish Independence against Kingdom of Eng ...
in 1323.

In the 14th and 15th centuries, the Burnett of Leys built a fortress of timbers on an island they made in the middle of a nearby bog. This method of fortification, known as a
crannog
A crannog (; ; ) is typically a partially or entirely artificial island, usually constructed in lakes, bogs and estuary, estuarine waters of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Unlike the prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps, which were built ...
, was common in the
Late Middle Ages
The late Middle Ages or late medieval period was the Periodization, period of History of Europe, European history lasting from 1300 to 1500 AD. The late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period ( ...
. Construction of the current tower house of Crathes Castle was begun in 1553
but delayed several times during its construction due to political problems during the reign of
Mary, Queen of Scots
Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567.
The only surviving legit ...
.
It was completed in 1596 by
Alexander Burnett of Leys, and an additional wing added in the 18th century. Alexander Burnett, who completed the construction of Crathes, began a new project, the early 17th-century reconstruction of nearby
Muchalls Castle
Muchalls Castle stands overlooking the North Sea in the countryside of Kincardine and Mearns, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The lower course is a well-preserved Romanesque, double-groined 13th-century tower house structure, built by the Frasers o ...
. That endeavour was completed by his son,
Sir Thomas Burnett.
In 1877, Sir Robert Burnett transformed the Great Hall by adding oak panelling and gilded leather in a faux-medieval style, to satisfy his New York wife Matilda and her guests that they were living in a truly old structure. Robert also purchased a whole new suite of furnishings for the entire structure of both antique and faux antique style as he thought befitted the house. Several painted beam ceilings, long covered by Georgian plasterwork, were re-exposed in 1913 during construction works (they had been spotted during the 1877 works and recovered).
Crathes Castle served as the ancestral seat of the
Burnetts of Leys
The House of Burnett (Burnett, Burnette, Burnard, Bernard) is a Scottish Lowlands, Lowland and Scottish Borders, Border Scottish family composed of several branches. The Chief of the Name and Arms of Burnett is James Comyn Amherst Burnett of Ley ...
until
Sir James Burnett, 13th Baronet gave it to the
National Trust for Scotland
The National Trust for Scotland () is a Scottish Building preservation and conservation trusts in the UK, conservation organisation. It is the largest membership organisation in Scotland and describes itself as "the charity that cares for, sha ...
in 1951.
The family continued to live in the house.
The Great Hall was stripped back to its bare stone walls in 1953.
Another historically important structure in this region linked to the Burnett of Leys family is
Monboddo House
Monboddo House () is a historically famous mansion in Kincardineshire, The Mearns, Scotland. The structure was generally associated with the Burnett of Leys family. The property itself was owned by the Clan Barclay, Barclay family from the 13th ...
.
Fire
A fire damaged portions of the castle (in particular the ''
Queen Anne'' wing) on 6 January 1966.
After the fire the laird, James Cecil Burnett was limited to the use of "a stump of the service wing" as his actual residence. The quarters and possessions of the on-site National Trust representative, Miss Jean Dodds, were wholly destroyed. It was decided by the National Trust's resident architect
Schomberg Scott that the Queen Anne wing should be rebuilt to its original height of two storeys and that the Victorian wing should be wholly demolished.
The insurance company paid £65,000; half of which was used to build the Burnetts a new house detached from the castle.
Interior

The castle contains a significant collection of portraits, and intriguing original
Scottish renaissance painted ceilings survive in several
Jacobean rooms: the ''Chamber of the Muses'', the ''Chamber of Nine Worthies'' and the ''Green Lady's Room''.
Original furniture still in the house and on display includes a carved bed and two
caquetoire chairs dating from 1597 and bearing the owners' initials and heraldry.
Garden and grounds
The castle estate is and contains of woodlands and fields, including nearly of
walled garden.
Within the walled garden are gravel paths with surrounding specimen plants, mostly in herbaceous borders. Many of the plants are labelled with taxonomic descriptions. There is also a grass croquet court at a higher terraced level within the walled garden. Ancient
topiary
Topiary is the horticultural practice of training perennial plants by clipping the foliage and twigs of trees, shrubs and subshrubs to develop and maintain clearly defined shapes, whether geometric or fanciful. The term also refers to plants w ...
hedges of Irish yew dating from 1702 separate the gardens into eight themed areas.
Crathes and its grounds are open to tourists throughout the year. A visitor centre provides information about the castle and its surroundings. There is a tea shop on site and a car park for any size of car.
Mesolithic calendar
In 2004 excavations at the castle uncovered a series of pits believed to date from about 10,000 years ago. The find was analysed in 2013 and is considered to be the world's oldest known
lunar calendar
A lunar calendar is a calendar based on the monthly cycles of the Moon's phases ( synodic months, lunations), in contrast to solar calendars, whose annual cycles are based on the solar year, and lunisolar calendars, whose lunar months are br ...
dating from 8000 BC to about 4000 BC.
This dating would make the structure up to five thousand years older
[ than previously recorded time-measuring monuments in ]Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...
.[
The site of Warren Field was identified from aerial photography when unusual crop marks were seen by the .]
See also
*Balbridie
Balbridie is the site of a Neolithic long house in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, situated on the south bank of the River Dee, east of Banchory. The site is one of the earliest known permanent Neolithic settlements in Scotland, dating from 3400 to ...
References
Bibliography
*
External links
Crathes Castle
- official site at National Trust for Scotland
The National Trust for Scotland () is a Scottish Building preservation and conservation trusts in the UK, conservation organisation. It is the largest membership organisation in Scotland and describes itself as "the charity that cares for, sha ...
Music at Crathes Castle
by Dr Roger B. Williams
Crathes Community Website
Take a Virtual Tour around Crathes Castle Grounds
{{Marr, Aberdeenshire places
Castles in Aberdeenshire
Houses in Aberdeenshire
Category A listed buildings in Aberdeenshire
Listed castles in Scotland
National Trust for Scotland properties
Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes
Gardens in Aberdeenshire
Historic house museums in Aberdeenshire
Tower houses in Scotland