Another Castle

Another Castle

This lunch saw me walking around Castle Fraser near Kemnay in Aberdeenshire. In the rain and mist.

About 16 miles west of Aberdeen is the stunning Castle Fraser, one of the grandest of the Scottish baronial tower houses.

Built between 1575 and 1636 by the 6th laird, Michael Fraser, Castle Fraser is the most elaborate Z-plan castle in Scotland. The castle belongs to the same period of native architectural achievement as two neighbouring castles, Crathes and Craigievar.

One of the castle’s most evocative rooms is the strikingly simple Great Hall. The castle contains many Fraser family portraits, including one by Raeburn, and fine 18th- and 19th-century carpets, curtains and bed hangings, and even Charles Mackenzie Fraser's wooden leg!

Legend has it that a young princess was once staying at the castle when she was brutally murdered while asleep in the 'Green Room'. Her body was dragged down the stone stairs, leaving a trail of bloodstains. As hard as they tried, the occupants of the castle could not scrub out the stains, and so were forced to cover the steps in wood paneling, which remains today. It is said she still stalks the halls of the castle during the night. It is more likely, however, that the stone stairs were covered to make them easier to climb as they were used as the servant’s stairs in the 19th century.

Some scenes in the 2006 film The Queen, starring Dame Helen Mirren, and featured Castle Fraser as a backdrop.