Cluny Crichton Castle (also known as Clounie Crighton Castle) is a ruined 3-story

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 ...

on the southern slopes of the Hill of Fare in

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...

, 4 km (2.5 miles) north of

Banchory Banchory (, sco, Banchry, gd, Beannchar) is a burgh or town in Aberdeenshire, 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 cist ...

and 6.5 km (4 miles) east of

Torphins Torphins ( ; gd, Tòrr Fionn) is a village in Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland which lies about west of Aberdeen. It is situated on the A980, about north-west of Banchory, and was once served by the Great North of Scotland Railway. W ...

History

In 1572 Robert Crichton of Cluny married Agnes Mowbray (d. 1575), a daughter of the Laird of Barnbougle, her older sisters Barbara and Gilles Mowbray were servants 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 Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Scot ...

in England. Crichton wrote to his kinsman James Menzies of

Weem WEEM-FM (91.7 FM broadcasting, FM) is a student-run high school radio station of Pendleton Heights High School in Pendleton, Indiana. It broadcasts in the Contemporary hit radio, CHR music format. The station is owned by South Madison Community S ...

to send wild fowls and aquavitae (whisky) for the wedding at Barnbougle. He expected his new bride to look after his young daughters from a previous marriage, and was proud of his choice, "she has many good qualities in weaving, sewing and other handicrafts, wherein she may be helpful to your daughters and mine." She died two years later, after having a daughter Agnes Crichton. The granite castle was built in 1666 in a modified

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 ...

design. Little is known of the history of the castle. It was built by George Crichton shortly after his marriage to the only daughter of Sir Robert Douglas of Tilquhillie.

Modern day

The castle has since fallen into ruin with some stones being taken for construction of nearby farmsteads. The castle now stands in agricultural land on the Cluny Crichton Farm. It has been listed by

Historic Environment Scotland Historic Environment Scotland (HES) ( gd, Àrainneachd Eachdraidheil Alba) is an executive non-departmental public body responsible for investigating, caring for and promoting Scotland's historic environment. HES was formed in 2015 from the mer ...

as a

Category B listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

and has also been categorised by the

Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland The Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland records buildings of national architectural or historic interest which are considered to be under threat. The list is maintained by Historic Environment Scotland (HES). The register was established in 1 ...

as at a high level of risk.

References

{{reflist Buildings and structures completed in 1666 Buildings and structures in Aberdeenshire Historic Environment Scotland properties