Built by the Mortimers of Craigievar between c.1575–95, Craigievar Castle in its original form would have looked a little different: rather than the iconic turrets, the uppermost level of the castle was likely much plainer and less soaring in height. The late 16th-century castle is everything below the carved stone corbel, decorated with projecting stone cannons that wraps around the castle walls. Due to the skill of the architect-masons who worked on Craigievar, it’s not immediately apparent that Craigievar is actually the result of two building phases!
The castle as it appears now was completed by William Forbes around 1626. He purchased the lands in 1610 and, keen to express the status his wealth (gained from working as a merchant through the Baltic trade) had brought him, he replaced the plain uppermost parts of the castle with the array of turrets and balustraded viewing platform we see today.
The Forbes family resided here for over 300 years before placing it in the care of the National Trust for Scotland in the 1960s.
