Scotland · Restored
Braemar Castle
Braemar Castle stands near the village of Braemar in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Built in 1628 as an L-plan five-storey tower with a star-shaped outer wall, it later served as a garrison and is today owned by the Farquharson family and leased to a local community trust and open to visitors.
First raised
1628
Its prime
1628
Today
Restored
As it stood in 1628
What Braemar Castle looked like in its prime.
A five-storey L-plan tower rising from a low grassy mound, its central rectangular tower enfolding a round stair turret and linked to a main wing; the castle is surrounded by a low star-shaped curtain wall of six sharp-angled salients and three-storey angle turrets. Built of pale granite with a harled finish, the façade shows narrow windows often fitted with heavy iron grilles and a main entrance fitted with an iron yett; set in parkland with scattered conifers and a long approach drive.
Its story
The story of Braemar Castle.
The Earl of Mar's Hunting Lodge, 1628
From the Late Middle Ages the site was a stronghold of the Earls of Mar, and the present castle was built in 1628 by John Erskine, Earl of Mar, as a hunting lodge and a counter to the rising power of the Farquharsons. It replaced an older building that had itself succeeded nearby Kindrochit Castle, an 11th-century fortress sited to command the historic crossings of the Grampian Mounth. Erskine's castle is a five-storey L-plan tower of harled granite set within a star-shaped curtain wall of six sharp-angled salients, its main entrance still guarded by the original iron yett; in the floor of a passage, an iron grille opens onto the Laird's Pit, a dark hole used as a dungeon.
Burned by the Black Colonel, 1689
During the Jacobite rising of 1689 the castle was attacked and burned by John Farquharson of Inverey, the Black Colonel, to prevent government troops garrisoning it. In 1716, after the Earl of Mar led the 1715 Jacobite rising, the castle was forfeited to the Crown. The castle and lands were purchased by John Farquharson, 9th Laird of Invercauld, but the building was left in ruins until 1748, when it was leased to the government at a fee of £14 per year to serve as a garrison for Hanoverian troops — an important garrison in the years after the 1745 rising. Rebuilding started under John Adam, Master Mason to the Board of Ordnance.
The soldiers left their mark: graffiti incised on the Drawing Room window shutters includes "John Chestnut, Sergeant, 1797", still clearly legible. In 1800 the castle was recorded as having its moat intact. The wider estate, meanwhile, turned to commercial forestry on a massive scale — between 1760 and 1806 James Farquharson of Invercauld planted 16 million fir trees and 2 million larch.
The Farquharsons Return, 1831
The military garrison was withdrawn in 1831 and the castle returned to the Farquharson clan. Restoration as a family home began under the 12th Laird of Invercauld, who entertained Queen Victoria at the castle when she attended the Braemar Gatherings held in its grounds. The castle remains a possession of the chief of Clan Farquharson and has been category A listed since 1972. Since 2006 it has been leased to the local community, run by the charity Braemar Community Ltd and staffed by local volunteers; it reopened to the public in 2008 with an ambitious restoration programme under way.
Step inside
12 places to explore in 1628.
The record describes 12 distinct spots at Braemar Castle, including 7 interiors: ground-floor stone-vaulted rooms, original kitchen (ground floor), laird's pit access in passage and more. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
Build Your Own Castle
Recreate Braemar Castle with AI to explore it.
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Clans who held Braemar Castle.
The families that held Braemar Castle for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
Built in 1628 by John Erskine, Earl of Mar; forfeited to the Crown after the earl led the 1715 Jacobite rising.
Farquharson
Returned to the Farquharson clan in 1831 when the garrison withdrew; still a possession of the chief of Clan Farquharson.
