Blairfindy Castle

Blairfindy Castle was built in 1564 by John Gordon of the Huntly family.

The L shaped, three storey, fortified tower house has a fabulous corner turret with excellent views over the countryside, with the bonus of having Glenlivet Distillery on it's doorstep.

The Blairfindy lands were historically part of Strathavon which was originally granted to Earl Duncan of Fife in 1187. The lands passed through the Strathbogie's, Thomas Randolph and the 'Wolf of Badenoch' before it was separated from Strathavon and eventually passed to the Earl of Huntly.

The first known residents of Blairfindy were the Grants who were tenants of the Earl of Huntly in 1470. It is thought that there could have been a tower at Blairfindy since then, although nothing remains of that tower.

It was John Gordon, the grandson of Alexander Gordon of Strathavon (the third son of the Earl of Huntly) and his wife Jean Grant, that had the present castle built in 1586.

Blairfindy Castle is accessed through a small arched doorway on the short north wall.

Above the door is a panel containing the quartered Gordon coat of arms, dated 1586 with initials for John Jordon of Cluny and his wife Margaret Gordon.

Behind the door was a small entrance hall with a guards room. There was also access to the stairs up to the main hall and a short corridor to the vaulted ground floor rooms which included the kitchen.

You can see where the stairs protrude the corner of the wall to the left of the door and above is a corbelled bretache (balcony), which was used for drainage rather than projecting defensive missiles.

The ground floor contained the kitchen with a large fireplace with oven on the north gable wall. On the south of the ground floor was the all important wine cellar.

On the first floor was the main hall, with window seats and a large ornate fireplace. From the main hall there was a convenient staircase down to the wine cellar and another leading down to the entrance hall.

The second floor contained the bed chambers and a garderobe containing the latrine. Above were the attic rooms which again would contain bed chambers and a watch room with access to the bretache, and let's not forget the beautiful round corbelled turret in the north east corner.

By 1606, Blairfindy Castle was used as a hunting lodge by the Earls of Huntly and in 1647, the Earl of Huntly who was captured at Delnabo, was kept prisoner here before being transferred to Edinburgh for his execution.

The castle was burned after the Battle of Culloden in 1746 and was never repaired or occupied again.

The castle which is owned by the Crown Estate, underwent a stabilising project in 2019. The Tomintoul & Glenlivet Landscape Partnership with help from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, completed the work in 2021, allowing access to the castle and providing two disabled parking spaces next the castle. Other visitors can park at the Glenlivet Distillery, maybe pick up a wee dram and walk the half mile up to the castle.

Unfortunately since then, the castle has been closed again following a masonry inspection. Hopefully further repair work will take place so that we can once again see inside this fantastic building.

Blairfindy Castle is a Category B Listed Building with Historic Environment Scotland.

While you are here, why not visit Drumin Castle which is nearby or the Old Bridge of Livet which is believed to have been built the same time as Blairfindy Castle.

It is a short 0.5km walk from the distillery to the castle.