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Fyvie Castle, Aberdeenshire
Location: Fyvie AB53 8JS (map and directions)
The 13th century Fyvie Castle is located in the town of Fyvie, near Turniff, and 27 miles
northwest of Aberdeen. Throughout its 800 year history the castle has changed hands several
times. Famous visitors to the castle include William I in 1214, Alexander II in 1222, Edward I of
England in 1296 and Robert the Bruce in the early 1300s. 
Fyvie Castle © Ikiwaner
History of Fyvie CastleIn its early years Fyvie was a royal
stronghold, but following the 1390 Battle of Otterburn, the castle ceased to be a royal residence. Five successive families then owned the residence: Preston, Meldrum, Seton, Gordon and Leith,
each of which added a new tower to Fyvie. The castle’s final owner was the American industrialist
Alexander Leith, who bought the castle in 1885, after the grounds and the adjoining Loch Fyvie
were landscaped in the mid-19th century. Alexander Leith’s descendants sold the castle to the
National Trust for Scotland in 1984.
Each of the five families sought to make their own mark on Fyvie, which has made the castle seem
imposingly large and complex. The castle’s five towers extend the castle skywards in addition to
its large size. The south front of the castle shows the Meldrum and Preston towers, the central
tower belongs to the Seton family, the north end of the west range is the Gordon Tower, and the
final ‘tower’, which is really a projecting wing, is called the Leith tower.
Inside Fyvie Castle, visitors can see the grand fireplace in the entrance hall, the enormous drawing
room which occupies the entire second floor of the Gordon Tower, the gallery of the Leith Tower,
in which Alexander Leith’s great tapestries are hung and a magnificent organ occupies most of
the upper part of one wall in the tower. The library at Fyvie Castle is an intricately designed space worth a visit, as are the many intimate sitting rooms, bedrooms, and the grand dining room and
billiard rooms. The charter room acts as the storage of deeds and charters and it is said that
immediately below this room is a secret chamber.

Fyvie Castle © Mike & Kirsty Grundy
Fyvie Castle is rumoured to be haunted, and has featured in several television shows related to its
ghostly reputation. The garden and grounds are open year-round from 9am-sunset, and the castle from April to Oct.
View Fyvie Castle in a larger map
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Other castles in Aberdeenshire Aboyne Castle
Balmoral Castle
Birse Castle
Bognie Castle
Braemar Castle
Brucklay Castle
Cairnbulg Castle
Corgarff Castle
Craigievar Castle
Craigston Castle
Crathes Castle
Delgatie Castle
Drum Castle
Drumtochty Castle
Dunnottar Castle
Esselmont Castle
Fetteresso Castle
Fetternear House
Findlater Castle
Castle Fraser
Fyvie Castle
Glenbuchat Castle
Kildrummy Castle
Kincardine Castle
Knockhall Castle
Muchalls Castle
New Slains Castle
Pitsligo Castle
Strathbogie Castle
Tolquhon Castle
Towie Barclay Castle
Udny Castle
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