The Nine Castles of Knuckle
Encyclopedia
The Nine Castles of Knuckle are a group of ancient castles found in the extinct area of "Knuckle", which today would be located on the very far corner of the north-east coast of Aberdeenshire
in the Buchan
area of Scotland
.
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...
in the Buchan
Buchan
Buchan is one of the six committee areas and administrative areas of Aberdeenshire Council, Scotland. These areas were created by the council in 1996, when the Aberdeenshire unitary council area was created under the Local Government etc Act 1994...
area of 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...
.
| Castle | Nearest significant settlement(s) | OS Grid Reference Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with... |
Built by | Construction date | Destruction date | Current condition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cairnbulg Castle Cairnbulg Castle Cairnbulg Castle is a z-plan castle situated in Cairnbulg, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Originally known as Philorth Castle it was built in the early 14th century, destroyed in winter of 1308-1309 in the Wars of Independence, and re-built by the Fraser family in 1380. Subsequently, a courtyard and... |
Cairnbulg | Comyn family, then Fraser Family† | built by Comyns 13th century; rebuilt by Frasers c.1380 | still inhabited by a family. (private not open to the public) | ||
| Dundarg Castle Dundarg Castle Dundarg Castle is a ruined castle about north-northeast of New Aberdour, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It was one of the The Nine Castles of Knuckle.... |
New Aberdour New Aberdour A small 19th century planned village, New Aberdour lies just south of the Moray Firth Coast, west of Fraserburgh.One of the earliest churches in Scotland, is said to have been founded here in 580 AD by Saint Drostan and Saint Columba.-External links:**... |
Comyn family | ruin | |||
| Inverallochy Castle Inverallochy Castle Inverallochy Castle is a ruined castle near the village of Inverallochy in the Buchan area of north-east Scotland.The ruins lie a half-mile south of Cairnbulg Castle near Fraserburgh. Walls surrounding an inner courtyard remain, along with one partly collapsed tower... |
Inverallochy Inverallochy The villages of Inverallochy and Cairnbulg lie some four miles east of Fraserburgh, in North East Scotland.... , St Combs |
Comyn family | ruin, only small areas visible | |||
| Kinnaird Castle‡ | Kinnaird Head Kinnaird Head Kinnaird Head is a headland projecting into the North Sea, within the town of Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire on the east coast of Scotland. It is the site of the first lighthouse in Scotland to be lit by the Commissioners of Northern Lights... , Fraserburgh Fraserburgh Fraserburgh is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland with a population recorded in the 2001 Census at 12,454 and estimated at 12,630 in 2006. It lies at the extreme northeast corner of Aberdeenshire, around north of Aberdeen, and north of Peterhead... |
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| Castle of Lonmay | Fiddlers Green, Crimond Crimond Crimond is a village in the northeast of Scotland, located nine miles northwest of the port of Peterhead and just over two miles from the coast.- Local area :... |
(not shown on modern OS maps) | nothing remains, under sanddunes. | |||
| Pitsligo Castle Pitsligo Castle Pitsligo Castle is a ruined castle half a mile east of Rosehearty, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.It originated as a 15th century keep on the south side... |
Rosehearty Rosehearty Rosehearty , Rizarty in the local dialect, is located on the Moray Firth coast, four miles west of the town Fraserburgh, in the historical county of Aberdeenshire in Scotland.... |
Fraser family | 1424 | ruin | ||
| Pitullie Castle | Rosehearty Rosehearty Rosehearty , Rizarty in the local dialect, is located on the Moray Firth coast, four miles west of the town Fraserburgh, in the historical county of Aberdeenshire in Scotland.... |
16th century | ruin | |||
| Castle of Rattray Castle of Rattray The Castle of Rattray was a medieval Scottish castle, with multiple variations on its structure over approximately six centuries. Originally built as a "late 12th- or early 13th century defensive motte" it provided protection for Starny Keppie harbour and Rattray village... ~ |
Old Rattray, Rattray, Aberdeenshire Rattray, Aberdeenshire Rattray , had been settled as far back as 4000 BC and was named a Royal Burgh in 1563 by Mary, Queen of Scots, "to put an end to the disputes about superiority over it between William Keith, 4th Earl Marischal and George Hay, 7th Earl of Erroll"... |
Comyn Comyn Comyn can refer to:* Clan Comyn, another name for Clan Cumming.People* Dan Comyn, an Irish cricketer.* Stephen George Comyn, Naval chaplain to Lord Nelson* Valens Comyn, English MP* William Leslie Comyn, Californian shipbuilder... family (possibly by William Comyn, jure uxoris Earl of Buchan William Comyn, jure uxoris Earl of Buchan William Comyn was one of four sons of Richard Comyn, Justiciar of Lothian and Hextilda of Tynedale. He was born in Scotland, in Altyre, Moray in 1163 and died in Buchan in 1233 where he is buried in Deer Abbey... ) |
early 13th century | unknown for certain, possibly 1308 | destroyed, buried | |
| Winetower | Kinnaird Head Kinnaird Head Kinnaird Head is a headland projecting into the North Sea, within the town of Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire on the east coast of Scotland. It is the site of the first lighthouse in Scotland to be lit by the Commissioners of Northern Lights... , Fraserburgh Fraserburgh Fraserburgh is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland with a population recorded in the 2001 Census at 12,454 and estimated at 12,630 in 2006. It lies at the extreme northeast corner of Aberdeenshire, around north of Aberdeen, and north of Peterhead... |
(not on OS maps, but approximately 50 metres from the Scottish Lighthouse Museum} | ruin | |||
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External links
- A more detailed map of the castles and their sites can be found in this .pdf document (about Cairnbulg Castle) from the Archaeology Data Service.