Details

13th century
courtyard castle
aka Mortlach

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Location

post AB55 4DH
NJ 326 408
Moray
.5m s of Dufftown
s of B975, e of A941
in Balvenie
map

Information

Apr-Sep
0930-1730
£3.70/£1.84

Links

Wikipedia
Historic Scotland
Tripadvisor
Gazetteer
Geograph
Castle Explorer
RCAHMS
DarkIsle
Undiscovered Scotland
Balvenie Distillery

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Comments?

Balvenie Castle


engraving of the inner courtyard / how it looks today

It also served as a base for the Marquise of Montrose om 1644 during the wars against the Covenanters. Near the castle, though, the Convenanters defeated the Royalists in 1649, and the Innes family was reduced to penury by their support of the Royalist side in the Civil war. They sold the property to Colonel Sutherland of Kinnity in 1658, and it was later claimed by the Forbes, and eventually ended up in the hands of his creditors, the Duffs in 1687.

It switched sides in the Jacobite rebellion - being held by them in 1689 and then against them in 1715. The owner, Wiliam Duff, committed suicide in the castle in 1718. For a few years, it was under the care of William Duff of Dipple, and he built a new house nearby, abaondoning Balvenie to be unroofed in 1724. It remained a derelict site, used for temporary housing or military use during the Jacobite Rebellion in 1745-46, but was entirely abaonded after the battle of Culloden in 1746. It was given to the state in 1929.

Not surprisingly, the old castle remained standing, and the "new" house was so damaged and ruinous that it was pulled down in 1929. In 1995, the Barony of Balvenie was bought by an executive of the Coca-Cola company, making him the owner of the ruined castle, which is currently managed by Historic Scotland.


looking down from the top of the stair tower to the courtyard


entrance ot the small stair tower, and the paved courtyard

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