Scottish Castles

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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 Castle

In 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.

Map and directions

Other castles in Aberdeenshire