The remains of the Castle of Lonmay are found near Netherton of Lonmay, to the north of

Loch Strathbeg The Loch of Strathbeg (also known as Loch Strathbeg; ''historically "Strathbeg Water"; "Water of Strathbeg"; "Rattray Water" or "Water of Rattray"'') is a designated Special Protection Area for wildlife conservation purposes. It is located near ...

in Buchan,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. The remains are not located in the modern village of Lonmay which is approximately 6 km to the south-west. It was described by

W. Douglas Simpson William Douglas Simpson CBE (2 August 1896 – 9 October 1968) was a Scotland, Scottish academic and writer who focused on the study of medieval architecture and archaeology. Career Simpson was appointed Assistant in History at the Univers ...

as one of the

nine castles of the Knuckle The nine castles of the Knuckle are a group of ancient castles found in Aberdeenshire in the Buchan area of Scotland. The term was used by historian William Douglas Simpson, who described the promontory between the Moray Firth and the North Sea a ...

, referring to the rocky headland of North-East Aberdeenshire. Dating from the 13th century it was home to the Fraser family. The castle ''"may have been a motte".'' It has long ceased to be in existence and there are very few remains to be found, all of which are buried under constantly shifting sand dunes that have over time engulfed the site. The castle provided protection to the north shore of the estuary that used to flow into Strathbeg Bay, before it closed off forming

around 1720. The south-shore (with Starny Keppie harbour and the village of Rattray) was protected by the Castle of Rattray. The remains are found ''"in the Links".. "near the sea"'' however ''"all the stones have been carried off, and employed in building farm-houses"'' and so ''"except the name, all tradition respecting this building is lost"''.

References

External links

*The Castle is not normally included on modern maps (

Ordnance Survey , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , logo = Ordnance Survey 2015 Logo.svg , logo_width = 240px , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = , picture_width = , picture_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = , di ...

grid-reference: ), but this '
1931 OS map of the area
'' shows the remains of Lonmay Castle to the north of Loch Strathbeg as "Site of Castle". * Images of the immediate local area (though not the castle site) from th
Geograph
project. {{coord, 57, 38, 16.05, N, 1, 53, 49.14, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title History of Aberdeenshire Castles in Aberdeenshire Former castles in Scotland