Abergeldie Castle is a four-storey tower house located near Crathie, Aberdeenshire

Aberdeenshire

Aberdeenshire is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area.The present day Aberdeenshire council area does not include the City of Aberdeen, now a separate council area, from which its name derives. Together, the modern council area and the city formed historic...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. It is protected as a category A listed building.

History

The castle was built around 1550 by Sir Alexander Gordon of Midmar

Midmar Castle

Midmar Castle is a 16th-century castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, located west of Westhill and west of Echt. The castle was built for George Gordon of Midmar and Abergeldie between 1565 and 1575, and was constructed by the stonemason and architect George Bell...

. During the first Jacobite rising in 1689, the castle was garrisoned by Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 troops under the command of General Hugh Mackay

Hugh Mackay

Hugh Mackay was a Scottish general best known for his service in the Revolution of 1688.- Early military career :...

. The castle has been owned by the Gordon family since 1482. From 1848 to 1970, it was leased to the British royal family

British Royal Family

The British Royal Family is the group of close relatives of the monarch of the United Kingdom. The term is also commonly applied to the same group of people as the relations of the monarch in her or his role as sovereign of any of the other Commonwealth realms, thus sometimes at variance with...

, being relatively close to Balmoral

Balmoral Castle

Balmoral Castle is a large estate house in Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is located near the village of Crathie, west of Ballater and east of Braemar. Balmoral has been one of the residences of the British Royal Family since 1852, when it was purchased by Queen Victoria and her...

.

The castle

The rectangular-plan tower measures around 35 by, with a round stair tower 15 feet (4.6 m) across at the south-west corner. In the early 19th century an ogee

Ogee

An ogee is a curve , shaped somewhat like an S, consisting of two arcs that curve in opposite senses, so that the ends are parallel....

-roofed belfry was built at the top of the stair tower, and a Venetian window inserted in the south façade. W. D. Simpson noted similarities between Abergeldie and the Castle of Balfluig at Alford

Alford

-Places:Australia*Alford, South AustraliaCanada*Alford, SaskatchewanEngland*Alford, Lincolnshire**Alford Manor House**Alford Windmill**Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Alford*Alford, Somerset*Alford CrosswaysScotland*Alford, Scotland...

, suggesting that they may have shared a designer.