Scotland · Partial ruin
Kindrochit Castle
Kindrochit Castle is a medieval fortification at Braemar in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, now surviving as low ruined masonry on the bank of the Clunie Water. Archaeology has shown a long hall with square corner towers and a later rectangular tower; the present visible remains are mainly the ground floor footprint of the later tower. The site is a scheduled monument and is open to the public.
Its prime
1390
Today
Partial ruin
As it stood in 1390
What Kindrochit Castle looked like in its prime.
A compact rectangular stone tower block (about 19.3 by 13 m) set beside the Clunie Water, built of coursed grey masonry and originally rising several storeys above a firm, simple roofline. Adjacent to it lay a long rectangular hall (about 30 by 9 m) with square towers at each corner; together the buildings formed a low riverside complex on a grassy bank with the rounded hills of the Grampians behind. At its prime the masonry was complete and roofed.
Its story
The story of Kindrochit Castle.
Kindrochit was a hunting seat of King Robert II, who issued charters here most years between 1371 and 1388 from its strategic position on the banks of the Clunie Water at Braemar. In 1390 Robert III granted Malcolm Drummond a licence to build a new tower on the site, and it is the ground floor of that tower, roughly 19.3 by 13 metres, that forms the main visible remains today.
By 1618 the castle was already ruined: John Erskine, Earl of Mar showed it to the poet John Taylor during his "Pennyles Pilgrimage" to Scotland, riding out with him from Braemar Castle. Taylor was told that Malcolm Canmore had built the castle in the 11th century, a tradition passed on to the visitor rather than a documented fact.
Archaeology has revealed a long hall with square corner towers alongside the later rectangular tower. Restoration work was carried out in 2013–2014 and the site reopened at Easter 2015; the ruins are protected as a scheduled monument and are freely open to the public all year round.
Step inside
6 places to explore in 1390.
The record describes 6 distinct spots at Kindrochit Castle, including 2 interiors: ground-floor chamber of the tower, long hall interior (30 by 9 m). 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 Kindrochit Castle with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1390, a photoreal reconstruction that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
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Clans who held Kindrochit Castle.
The families that held Kindrochit Castle for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
Drummond
Malcolm Drummond was licensed by Robert III in 1390 to build a new tower at Kindrochit.
