Crathes Castle, Banchory, United Kingdom

Crathes Castle is a 16th-century castle near Banchory in the Aberdeenshire region of Scotland. Construction of the current tower house of Crathes Castle was begun in 1553 but delayed several times during its construction due to political problems during the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots. It was completed in 1596 by Alexander Burnett of Leys, and an additional wing added in the 18th century.

This harled castle was built by the Burnetts of Leys and was held in that family for almost 400 years. The castle and grounds are owned and managed by the National Trust for Scotland and are open to the public.

The castle contains a significant collection of portraits, and intriguing original Scottish renaissance painted ceilings survive in several Jacobean rooms.

During 2004 excavations uncovered a series of pits believed to date from about 10,000 years ago. The find was only analysed in 2013 and is believed to be the world's oldest known lunar calendar. It is believed that it was used from 8,000 BC to about 4,000 BC. It is believed to pre-date by up to five thousand years previously known time-measuring monuments in Mesopotamia.

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Castles and fortifications in United Kingdom

User Reviews

Jeni Thomson (4 months ago)
Beautiful setting. Lovely friendly staff. Nice cafe and loos. Nice walks with great views.

Andrew Cumming (6 months ago)
Came here to go to the “Christmas at the Castle” with my family. Event was beautiful and well ran with amazing lights etc and characters that our daughter loved. Came to it last year and definitely wasn’t let down by this year’s experience! Only thing it would be difficult for someone in a wheelchair to go round because of the layout and the ground.

Chris Geary (9 months ago)
Crathes is absolutely stunning however the cost of entry inside the castle is prohibitive. £16 for adults and £12 for a small child just did not entice us. Perhaps if children were free it would have been more appealing. The grounds and gardens are amazing with some lovely walks

Maciej Graczykowski (10 months ago)
What a fantastic location to visit over the weekend! Despite the large number of people inside during my visit, the place was so spacious that I didn't feel crowded at all. You must see the lovely enclosed garden when you visit. The weather was so beautiful that I didn't want to go inside the castle, but I'm sure it's also worth seeing.

Rudolf Berger (12 months ago)
The castle is nice with widespread surroundings. The building as such is nice but not too spectacular. It has some very nicely painted ceilings. However the gardens are absolutely gorgeous. Very nicely set up and kept. Lots of different flowers and trees with information about some of them on them. We actually only saw about half of the whole gardens, but it still took us a long time to get around. Also a nice coffee shop.

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Doune Castle was originally built in the thirteenth century, then probably damaged in the Scottish Wars of Independence, before being rebuilt in its present form in the late 14th century by Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany (c. 1340–1420), the son of King Robert II of Scots, and Regent of Scotland from 1388 until his death. Duke Robert"s stronghold has survived relatively unchanged and complete, and the whole castle was traditionally thought of as the result of a single period of construction at this time. The castle passed to the crown in 1425, when Albany"s son was executed, and was used as a royal hunting lodge and dower house.

In the later 16th century, Doune became the property of the Earls of Moray. The castle saw military action during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and Glencairn"s rising in the mid-17th century, and during the Jacobite risings of the late 17th century and 18th century.

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