Scotland · Restored
Drum Castle
Drum Castle is a historic castle near Drumoak in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, long-held by the chiefs of Clan Irvine from a grant in 1323 until the 20th century. It centres on a largely unaltered 13th-century rectangular tower with later Jacobean and Victorian additions. The property is owned by the National Trust for Scotland and is open to the public, with a chapel, library, gardens and hireable event rooms.
Its prime
1876
Today
Restored
As it stood in 1876
What Drum Castle looked like in its prime.
A massive square medieval tower of pale grey granite with a crenellated parapet dominates the composition, set immediately behind a low stone gatehouse with a steep gabled roof and a wide arched carriage entrance. To the right a long range of connected stone ranges rises in stages, showing stepped gables, tall chimneys and pitched slate roofs; a short round angle turret punctuates the curtain. The complex sits in mown parkland with mature trees and clipped hedges.
Its story
The story of Drum Castle.
The Thirteenth-Century Tower and the King's Grant of 1323
The tower at Drum is believed to be one of the three oldest tower houses in Scotland, and notably unaltered; it has been suggested as the work of the architect Richard Cementarius, who built the Brig o' Balgownie, the first bridge over the Don, at Old Aberdeen. The Elsick Mounth, an ancient trackway across the Grampians, met a ford on the River Dee nearby, and that crossing is thought to have shaped the tower's siting as a point from which to watch traffic on the road.
In 1323 Robert the Bruce granted the castle and its grounds to William de Irwyn, of the Irvings of Bonshaw, who served the king as armour-bearer, secretary and neighbour. The Irvines held Drum from that grant until 1975.
Mary, Queen of Scots, Gilderoy and the Covenanting Sack
In August 1564, travelling near Aberdeen, Mary, Queen of Scots sent a messenger asking the Laird of Drum to provision her, and may have visited the castle herself. The 9th laird added a large wing in 1619.
In June 1636 Sir Alexander Irvine of Drum and his wife Magdalene Scrimgeour were censured for harbouring the outlaw Gilderoy. Drum was drawn into the Covenanting Rebellion, as was neighbouring Muchalls Castle, and was attacked and sacked three times during the conflict.
Alexander Forbes Irvine's Restoration of Courtyard and Chapel
Alexander Forbes Irvine of Drum inherited the estate in 1861 on his father's death. In 1875-76 he had the courtyard restored and an arched entrance and angle tower added, and was also partly responsible for restoring the chapel.
The chapel began as an older church on the site, remodelled in the 1500s and 1600s; its west window was enlarged and a cross added, with a new roof and interior repairs, in 1857.
End of Six and a Half Centuries of Irvine Ownership
The agreement passing Drum to the National Trust for Scotland was made in 1964 by H.Q. Forbes Irvine, the 24th Laird, and took effect in the mid-1970s. The Trust owns the castle today and opens the castle, chapel, library and gardens to the public.
Step inside
10 places to explore in 1876.
The record describes 10 distinct spots at Drum Castle, including 3 interiors: castle chapel (interior), victorian library, great dining hall. 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 Drum Castle with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1876, a photoreal reconstruction that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
Recreate this castle →Castle Siege
Play Castle Siege at Drum Castle.
A strategy game played on Drum Castle’s real ground plan: the same surveyed walls shown in the archive below. Post your finite garrison on the battlements between assaults, then hold out as rams, siege towers, trebuchets and sappers arrive in ever-worse waves.
Sign in free to see the garrison muster. One castle costs 150 Clan Coins and is yours forever.
Sign in to take command →Whose castle
Clans who held Drum Castle.
The families that held Drum Castle for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
Irvine
Granted to William de Irwyn by Robert the Bruce in 1323; seat of the chiefs of Clan Irvine until 1975.
From the archive
Drum 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. 117. — Drum Castle. Plan of First Floor.
1887 · MacGibbon & Ross, Castellated and Domestic Architecture of Scotland, vol. 1 (1887)
Public domain
