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Blairfindy Castle is an
Although the castle is broadly L-plan, its wing projects slightly to allow defence of both sides. A corbelled angle turret arose on the other side.
In the re-entrant angle is the arched entrance doorway. Above, for its defence, is a heavily corbelled projection, with
L-plan
An L-plan castle is a castle or tower house in the shape of an L, typically built from the 13th to the 17th century. This design is found quite frequently in Scotland, but is also seen in England, Ireland, Romania, Sardinia, and other location ...
tower house
A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strateg ...
, dating from the 16th century,Lindsay, Maurice (1986) ''The Castles of Scotland''. Constable. p.85 around north of Tomintoul
Tomintoul (; from gd, Tom an t-Sabhail, meaning "Hillock of the Barn") is a village in the Moray council area of Scotland in the historic county of Banffshire.
Within Cairngorms National Park, the village lies close to the banks of the River ...
, and west of the River Livet.Coventry, Martin (2001). ''The Castles of Scotland''. Musselburgh: Goblinshead. p. 82-83 The tower was a hunting seat of the earls of Huntly.
The building is derelict. However, in 2019, a project to stabilise and make the castle safe was completed. Complete with a new access path and disabled parking alongside an information board, visitors can go inside the castle ruins on a free flow basis.
History
The first owners of Blairfindy wereGrants
Grant or Grants may refer to:
Places
*Grant County (disambiguation)
Australia
* Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia
United Kingdom
*Castle Grant
United States
* Grant, Alabama
*Grant, Inyo County, C ...
, but the present castle was built by the Gordons, having been completed by John Gordon in 1564. It was after it passed to another branch of the family in 1586 that it became a hunting seat for the Huntly earls.
It is close to the site of the Battle of Glenlivet
The Battle of Glenlivet was a Scottish clan battle fought on 3 October 1594 near Glenlivet, Moray, Scotland. It was fought between Protestant forces loyal to King James VI of Scotland who were commanded by Archibald Campbell, 7th Earl of Argy ...
where the Earl of Argyll’s Protestant army was defeated by the much smaller army of the Earl of Huntly
Marquess of Huntly (traditionally spelled Marquis in Scotland; Scottish Gaelic: ''Coileach Strath Bhalgaidh'') is a title in the Peerage of Scotland that was created on 17 April 1599 for George Gordon, 6th Earl of Huntly. It is the oldest existing ...
and the Francis Hay, 9th Earl of Erroll
Francis Hay, 9th Earl of Erroll (30 April 156416 July 1631) was a Scottish nobleman. A convert to Catholicism, he openly conspired with the king of Spain to try to unseat the Protestant Queen Elizabeth.
Biography
He was the son of Andrew Hay, ...
, in 1594.
Structure
Although the castle is broadly L-plan, its wing projects slightly to allow defence of both sides. A corbelled angle turret arose on the other side.
In the re-entrant angle is the arched entrance doorway. Above, for its defence, is a heavily corbelled projection, with machicolation
A machicolation (french: mâchicoulis) is a floor opening between the supporting corbels of a battlement, through which stones or other material, such as boiling water, hot sand, quicklime or boiling cooking oil, could be dropped on attackers at t ...
s to allow missiles to be dropped, while to the side there is a shot hole. On a panel above the doorway are the quartered arms
Arms or ARMS may refer to:
*Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body
Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to:
People
* Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader
Coat of arms or weapons
*Armaments or weapons
**Fi ...
of the Gordons, with the date 1586 and the initials I.G. and H.G. A semicircular stair tower rises above the doorway in the re-entrant angle.
It has been argued that in a tower house of this relatively late date the machicolation was a deliberately archaic addition which gave a warlike appearance to what was essentially a residential building.
The basement
A basement or cellar is one or more floors of a building that are completely or partly below the ground floor. It generally is used as a utility space for a building, where such items as the furnace, water heater, breaker panel or fuse box, ...
is vaulted. At the north of the block is the kitchen, which has an oven, a large fireplace, and water drain. To the south of the mural stair up to the hall is a wine cellar.
The whole of the first floor was used for the hall, which was clearly a fine room; some panelling
Panelling (or paneling in the U.S.) is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials.
Panelling was developed in antiquity to make roo ...
and a carved fireplace remain. There were bedrooms above.
There are numerous windows and shot holes.
It is a category B listed building.
References