Glenbuchat Castle

Glenbuchat Castle stands roofless in the Aberdeenshire uplands, a Z-plan tower house raised in 1590. It was built by John Gordon of Cairnbarrow to mark his marriage that same year to Helen Carnegie, a daughter of Robert Carnegie of Kinnaird in Angus. The design follows the Z-plan arrangement favoured by Scottish lairds of the period, with a central block set between projecting corner towers so that defenders could cover every face of the walls. Much of the building stone was carried from nearby Kildrummy Castle, giving the new house a ready supply of dressed masonry. Only a few years after it was completed, Glenbuchat was drawn into the conflicts of the age: after the Battle of Glenlivet in 1594, it was seized and garrisoned by royal forces. The Gordons held the castle until 1738, when the family sold it and it passed through private hands. In 1901 it was bought by James William Barclay, and in 1946 his grandson, Colonel James Barclay Milne, placed it in state care, with the surrounding parkland following soon afterwards. Today the roofless shell survives in fairly good order, cared for by Historic Environment Scotland as a scheduled monument.