Knock Castle

Knock Castle is a ruinous four storey tower house near the Bridge of Muick, to the west of Ballater and on the south side of the River Dee.

The 16th century castle was built by the Gordon family in the traditional tower house style. It was granted to the Gordons of Abergeldie following the battle of Corrichie in 1562. The battle was fought between George Gordon (Chief of the Gordon Clan, 4th Earl of Huntly) and Mary, Queen of Scots, led by her half-brother James Stewart the newly appointed 1st Earl of Moray.

Gordon had previously defeated the English in the battle of Haddon Rigg when defending King James V of Scotland (Mary's father) against Henry VIII of England.

However, on this occasion Mary, Queen of Scots along with her half-brother James Stewart, had come looking for the head of Gordon's son John (who was also Mary's cousin), after he had fought with James Ogilvie (Master of Mary's household). Mary had also gifted the earldoms of Moray and Mar to her half-brother as a wedding gift, which angered Gordon as he thought them rightfully his. John Gordon would eventually give himself up. But during Mary's attempt to get her hands on John, another son of Gordon, Alexander, had refused her entrance to her own castle at Inverness. The gloves were off and the Gordon's were in trouble.

After a series of stand offs and skirmishes, it all came to a head at the Battle of Corrichie where Gordon would see his forces defeated by Mary. Gordon's son John was executed. The embalmed corpse of George Gordon, who died at the battle, was transferred to Edinburgh Parliament to stand (although he probably didn't do much standing) trial for treason. He was found guilty and Mary forfeited eleven of Gordon named Earls and Barons. It all makes our family arguments look quite tame.

By 1565 Queen Mary of Scotland restored the Earls of Huntly, Sutherland and others of the named Gordons and Knock Castle was returned to the Gordons of Abergeldie.

Around 1600, another tragic story befell the Gordons. On this occasion it involved an ongoing feud between the Gordons and the neighbouring Forbes, that escalated when one of the Gordon's boys married a Forbes girl in secret. Forbes went on to the kill the Gordon boy and his seven brothers in a gruelling tale. The story tells of Alexander Gordon (3rd Laird of Knock) who's seven sons went out to cut peat, during which Forbes had them all killed. He went on to place their severed heads on the handles of their peat spades.

One of Gordon's servants discovered the heads while searching for the boys and made haste back to the castle. Gordon having been standing at the top of the castle's turnpike stair when told of the news, collapsed and fell down the stairway to his death. The Forbes also being responsible for the murder of Alexander's brother, Henry, the Forbes Laird's fate was sealed. William Gordon, 6th Laird of Abergeldie, executed Forbes and all his lands were forfeited to the Gordon's of Abergeldie.

The castle itself sits on a knoll in a field to the south of Craig of the Knock at the entrance to Glen Muick. The rectangular tower measures about 8.2m by 6.7m and has 1.2m thick walls. Although the tower is ruined and roofless, the remains of a vaulted basement (used as a kitchen) and a spiral staircase can be seen.

There is a gabled cap house at the top of the stairway and the castle had defensive shot holes that are angled to the ground. The castle was enclosed by a courtyard and would have been protected by a strong wooden door and an iron yett. The outbuildings would have been set around the perimeter courtyard wall.

There is no parking on the track to the Castle, so you will need to park in the layby opposite the cottages on the main road and walk up.

There is a stile to contend with, but luckily no livestock when we visited.

It is easy to forgot about the tragic events of the castle, as it is a fantastic spot to sit and relax with fabulous views of the surrounding hills. To the south east you are looking towards Mount Keen and to the south west is Lochnagar.

The castle is a category B listed building in the care of Historic Environment Scotland.

It is just under 1km with 50m of ascent to reach Knock Castle.

Follow the above route, or find on OS Maps.