Scotland · Ruin
Balquhain Castle
Balquhain Castle is a 15th‑century ruined Scottish tower house in Aberdeenshire that served as the Leslie family stronghold. The rectangular tower stands within the remains of a surrounding barmkin and is a scheduled monument. The tower was burned and abandoned in the 18th century and survives now as a freestanding ruin in pasture beside woodland.
Its prime
1562
Today
Ruin
As it stood in 1562
What Balquhain Castle looked like in its prime.
A tall, rectangular four‑storey stone tower house measuring roughly 13.75 by 8.75 metres, built of irregular rubble with larger dressed corner stones; the main façade shows a vertical sequence of small rectangular window openings over several levels. The tower rises alone on low ground within the grassy footprint of a former barmkin enclosure, backed by a belt of trees. At its prime the roofline would have closed the tower; the masonry shows patches of lighter sandstone at the corners and coursing lines of stonework.
Its story
The story of Balquhain Castle.
Building the Leslie Tower, 1340-1441
Balquhain Castle was the stronghold of the Leslies of Balquhain, a tower house raised in the 15th century on lands the family had held from 1340, four kilometres west of Inverurie in Aberdeenshire. On 5 July 1441 John Leslie of Balquhain made an indenture with four masons, David Hardgat, David Dun, Robert Masoun and Gilbert Masoun, that they would complete his building. The rectangular tower measures 13.75 by 8.75 metres and stands within the remains of a barmkin. The place name was sometimes written as "Boquhane".
The Forbes Feud and Queen Mary, 1526-1564
The castle was sacked in 1526 during a feud with the Forbes family, and was rebuilt in 1530. Mary, Queen of Scots stayed at Balquhain on 1 September 1562, and William Leslie, laird of Balquhain, was a leader of her vanguard at the Battle of Corrichie. In March 1563 the queen forgave him for his dealings with George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly, and she wrote to him to make provision for her when she visited again in August 1564.
Bloody Sarks, the Burning of 1746 and Ruin, 1588-1938
In 1588 John Leslie, laird of Balquhain, took the losing side of a fishing dispute, supporting the rights of Thomas Leslie of Banff against the burgesses of Aberdeen. His son fought with some men from Aberdeen, and the families of the wounded protested with their bloody shirts, or sarks; James VI and the Earl of Huntly settled the quarrel. The household was in court again in 1590, when Bessie Roy, nurse to Leslie's children, stood trial for witchcraft and was acquitted, having been accused among other things of causing a woman's death with a "plaid full of enchantments and sorcery".
In 1746 the castle was burned by the forces of Prince William, Duke of Cumberland, and abandoned. It has stood a ruin since, protected as a scheduled monument since 1938.
Step inside
5 places to explore in 1562.
The record describes 5 distinct spots at Balquhain Castle, including the full exterior approach. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
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Clans who held Balquhain Castle.
The families that held Balquhain Castle for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
Stronghold of the Leslies of Balquhain, on lands held by the family from 1340; burned in 1746 and abandoned.
From the archive
Balquhain Castle on paper: the measured plan and period views.
The survey plan and photographs below are the ground truth this page's reconstructions are checked against, drawn and photographed while the castle was still a working garrison. Every image is public-domain or openly licensed, with its source named.
Fig. 259. Balquhain Castle. View from the South-East.
1887 · MacGibbon & Ross, Castellated and Domestic Architecture of Scotland, vol. 1 (1887)
Public domain
Fig. 260. Balquhain Castle. Plan.
1887 · MacGibbon & Ross, Castellated and Domestic Architecture of Scotland, vol. 1 (1887)
Public domain
