Tillycairn Castle is an

L-plan castle 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 locations ...

, dating from the 16th century, standing on high ground around south-east of Cluny in Aberdeenshire,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

.Maurice Lindsay (1986) ''The Castles of Scotland''. Constable. p. 449

History

The castle was probably strengthened by Matthew Lumsden in 1542 following the depredations of Clan Strachan of Lynturk in the course of the quarrel between

Clan Gordon Clan Gordon is a Highland Scottish clan, historically one of the most powerful Scottish clans. The Gordon lands once spanned a large territory across the Highlands. Presently, Gordon is seated at Aboyne Castle, Aberdeenshire. The Chief of the ...

and

Clan Forbes Clan Forbes is a Highland Scottish clan from Aberdeenshire, Scotland. History Origins The name Forbes is most probably a location name assumed from the lands of Forbes in Aberdeenshire, in possession of this family reputedly since the time ...

. In 1672, when the last of the Lumsden line died, the castle went to Thomas Burnett of Sauchen. Thereafter it had Forbes connections until it passed to the Gordons in the early 18th century. The castle became ruinous by 1722, but has been restored for David Lumsden, who acquired it from the Cluny estate in 1973, by the

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Ian Begg in 1980-84.

Structure

The four-storey castle is small, with thick walls which are constructed in the lower courses of large boulders. It has rounded corners, and all save one of the gables have angle turrets. There is a semicircular stair tower in the re-entrant angle, with an ashlar cap house. The main entrance is beside the stair tower. There was once a

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...

on the west side of the wing. There is corbelling at the top. The wing is five storeys high. Internally, the basement has three

vaulted In architecture, a vault (French ''voûte'', from Italian ''volta'') is a self-supporting arched form, usually of stone or brick, serving to cover a space with a ceiling or roof. As in building an arch, a temporary support is needed while ring ...

rooms, including the kitchen, which has a wide arched fireplace. The hall takes up the whole of the first floor. This has a fine fireplace, and a store sink and drain. Above the fireplace is a so-called “Laird's Lug”, a secret listening chamber allowing the Laird to overhear conversations in the Great Hall. The bedrooms were on the higher floors. It is a category A listed building.

References

{{coord , 57.1924, N, 2.5562, W, display=title Castles in Aberdeenshire Category A listed buildings in Aberdeenshire Listed castles in Scotland