Kindrochit Castle

The ruins of Kindrochit Castle may be sparse, but they are interesting nevertheless. What remains of the castle can be found in the heart of the highland village of Braemar.

Although the ruins are 14th century, the history of the castle goes way back.

Around 1057, King Malcolm III (Malcolm Canmore) is known to have been in the area during a campaign against King Macbeth.

Macbeth had killed Malcolm's father, King Duncan I in 1040. After biding his time, Malcolm was finally ready to take revenge. In 1057 he came after Macbeth, spending time in Braemar before continuing the 35 miles north east to Lumphanan, where Macbeth would meet his demise. Macbeth's son Lulach then took the Scottish throne, so Malcolm kill him too. taking the throne for himself.

Following his first visit, Malcolm built a fort very close to where the castle stands now, with a bridge over the Clunie Water allowing easy access. The bridge is likely to have given the castle the name 'Kindrochit' or 'ceann an drochaid', meaning bridge head in Gaelic.

In 1078 he was also recorded in the area, this time defending himself against Macbeth's fellow Moray lairds. King Malcolm continued to hold the Scottish throne until he died in 1093.

Nothing remains of Malcolm's fort, the oldest part of what you see today was built by King Robert II who reigned from 1371 to 1390.

The King came to Royal Kindrochit regularly during the hunting seasons between 1373 and 1382.

In 1390, his son, King Robert III granted Sir Malcolm de Drummond a licence to build the fortified tower known as the Drummond Keep.

In 1402, during the construction of the tower, Malcolm was killed by Alexander Stewart who forcibly married Malcolm's widow and became the Earl of Mar, owner of much of the land in the area. Alexander continued construction, bringing in the finest materials from his estate in Kildrummy. When finished, the tower was the fifth largest in Scotland.

For the next 300 years, Kindrochit would remain the property of the Earls of Mar. There is uncertainty as to when the castle was abandoned, however it was definitely ruinous by 1618.

Although not much of the castle remains, the information boards around the site help to visualise how is would have looked in its heyday.

As you walk through the narrow entrance, the thickness of the walls is quite striking. As you continue, the first area you enter is the castle courtyard and the older part of the castle.

Excavations that were carried out in 1925, revealed an original long hall with square corner towers that was built in the late 1300's. Since then the Drummond Tower with its 3m thick walls, was added within the walls of the original castle.

There are steps next to the prison of the Drummond Tower, from which you can get a good view down into what remains of the Drummond Tower which is a prison, larder and wine cellar.

Although little remains of the castle, it holds a great history and is well worth a visit.

There is parking next to the castle in front of the Police Station which offers a disabled parking space, but I can't imagine it being wheelchair friendly. There is a large village car park across the road, next to the public toilets.

The castle ruins are classified as a Scheduled Monument with Historic Environment Scotland.