Corgarff Castle
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Corgarff Castle is located slightly west of the village of
Corgarff Corgarff () is a hamlet in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, in the Grampian Mountains. The nearby Corgarff Castle was used as a military barracks in the 18th century. The hamlet's primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the Unite ...
, 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 ...
, north-east
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 stands by the Lecht road, which crosses the pass between
Strathdon Strathdon (; Gaelic: ''Srath Dheathain'') is an area in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is situated in the strath of the River Don, 45 miles west of Aberdeen in the Highlands. The main village in the strath is Bellabeg, although it was original ...
and
Tomintoul Tomintoul (; from , 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 Avon and is said by s ...
.


Life

The castle was built around 1530 by the Elphinstone family and leased to the Forbes of Towie. In 1571, it was burned by their enemy, Adam Gordon of Auchindoun, resulting in the deaths of Margaret Campbell, Lady Forbes, her children, and numerous others, 26 in total, and giving rise to the ballad Edom o Gordon. In May 1607, the castle was captured from Alexander, 4th Lord Elphinstone by Alexander Forbes of Towie and his companions, including a piper called George McRobie. They used hammers and battering rams to break down the gate, then fortified the house with a garrison of "Highland thieves and limmers". In 1626, it was acquired by the
Earl of Mar There are currently two earldoms of Mar in the Peerage of Scotland, and the title has been created seven times. The first creation of the earldom is currently held by Margaret of Mar, 31st Countess of Mar, who is also clan chief of Clan Mar. Th ...
. In 1645, it was used as an assembly point by the troops of the Marquis of Montrose. It was burned again in both 1689 and 1716 by Jacobite supporters. It was resettled by the Forbes family in 1745 but had to be forfeited due to their Jacobite leanings. In 1748, it was bought by the British government and rebuilt and extended as a barracks. A detachment of government troops were stationed there, on the military road from
Braemar Castle Braemar Castle is situated near the village of Braemar in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is a possession of the chief of Clan Farquharson and is leased to a local charitable foundation. It is open to the public. History From the Late Middle Ages, ...
to Fort George, Inverness. Military use continued as late as 1831, after which the tower was used to suppress illegal whisky distilling in the surrounding area. It remained part of the Delnadamph estate belonging to the Stockdale family until they passed the castle into state care in 1961 and gave the ownership of the castle to the Lonach Highland and Friendly Society. It is now in the care of
Historic Environment Scotland Historic Environment Scotland (HES) () 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 merger of government agency Historic Sc ...
and is open to the public. It has been designated a
scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...
.


References

*


External links

*Historic Environment Scotland
Visitor guide
*360 Photographic Virtual Tour
Snow Covered 360 Virtual Tour of Corgarff grounds
{{Marr, Aberdeenshire places, state = collapsed Castles in Aberdeenshire Museums in Aberdeenshire Military and war museums in Scotland Historic house museums in Aberdeenshire Historic Environment Scotland properties in Aberdeenshire Scheduled monuments in Aberdeenshire Tower houses in Scotland