Alternative Names Mar Castle
Site type CASTLE
Canmore ID 29748
Site Number NO19SE 4
NGR NO 15604 92374
Council ABERDEENSHIRE
Parish CRATHIE AND BRAEMAR
Former Region GRAMPIAN
Former District KINCARDINE AND DEESIDE
Former County ABERDEENSHIRE

Canmore Mapping
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Archaeological Notes

NO19SE 4 15604 92374


(NO 1561 9238) Braemar Castle (NAT)
OS 6" map, Aberdeenshire, 2nd ed., (1903)

Braemar Castle is a tall, five storeyed turreted house of the L-plan, measuring 51 feet by 47 feet, with a large round stair tower in the re-entrant angle. It was built in 1628, burned in 1689, and remained a ruin until 1748 when it was leased and garrisoned by the Government after the erection of the rectangular curtain wall. The British Museum library has engineers' drawings of this reconstruction which show a large well in the north salient.
W D Simpson 1949; D MacGibbon and T Ross 1887.

Braemar Castle, in good condition and open to the public during the summer months. Later single storey constructions have been added
between the 18th century curtain wall and the 17th century tower house on the N and W sides.
Visited by OS (N K B) 26 October 1967.

Listed.
Scottish Castle Survey 1988; N Bogdan and I B D Bryce 1991.

Visible on air photograph AAS/93/11/G23/4. Copy held by Grampian Regional Council.
Information from M Greig, Grampian Regional Council, March 1994.

NO 1560 9237 A watching brief was undertaken on 25¿6 October 2007 during the excavation of two service trenches
between the curtain wall and the N side of the castle. Braemar Castle was built in 1628 and burnt down in 1689. It remain a ruin until 1748 when it was rebuilt and used as a government garrison, and the star-shaped curtain wall was built. The stratigraphy observed during the watching brief appears to demonstrate that a well or cistern (which is depicted on a 1750 plan of the castle) within a salient of the wall was almost certainly built as part of the mid-18th-century renovations. A similar feature occurs at Corgaff Castle, also garrisoned at the same time.
Reports deposited with Aberdeenshire SMR and RCAHMS.
Funder: Aberdeenshire Council.
H K Murray and J C Murray, 2007.

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Architectural Notes

OWNER: Invercauld Estates

NMRS REFERENCE:
PLANS
Copies of plans, the originals of which are held in the British Museum, dated 1753 and 1750. See C 21065 P, C 21066 P and C 21067 P.

NATIONAL ARCHIVE OF SCOTLAND:
Braemar Castle, Corgarff Castle, Kildrummie Castle.

Burning of the Earl of Mar's castles during the rebellion of the Highlanders. Representation of losses states that these amount to ?3,400. (post 1690). GD124/10/427.
Burning of the Earl of Mar's Castles, his lands in Braemar and his sawmill there. Representation of looses states that the damage amounts to ?3,400. (post 1690) GD 124/10/427.

Situated in South West Aberdeenshire, in the valley of the River Dee, and according to Groome's Ordanance Gazetter of Scotland (1901 edition), the new Braemar Castle was built about 1720 by owners who had acquired the forfeited estates of the Earl of Mar. About 1730 it passed by purchase into possession of Farquharson of Invercauld: and was leased to the Government about 1748 for the uses of a garrison.
In the National Library of Scotland is a series of Military Maps and Drawings, many coloured, of the Board of Ordnanace, dealing with the works executed in the 18th century. Reference 'MSS 1645-1652'. Among these, and contained in case or volume no. 1649, are the following relating to Braemar Castles:-
Number. Year.
Z 3/33.1748. 'Plan(s) of Braemarr Castle as it stands at present'. Scale 10 feet to an inch. Dated Edinburgh 25th April, 1748. Docketted on back. 'Reed with Copy of Colonel Watson's letter to Mr.Skinner dated 12 May, 1748'.
Z 3/33.1748. 'Section of Braemarr Castle as it stands at present'. Same scale at last, and evidently same date'
Z 3/33.1748 'Plan(s) of Repairs for Braemar Castle'. Scale 10 Feet to an inch. Date 25th April, 1748, and docketted on back as drawing above.
Z 3/31.1750. 'Plans of Brae-marr Castle in the year 1750', shewing Enclosing Wall with Crenaux, and Well. Scale 10 Feet to an inch. Bears the name of W. Skinner. There are 2 copies.
Z 3/34.1750. 'Elevations and sections of Braemarr Castle in the year 1750'. Scale 10 feet to an inch. Drawn by Chas. Tarrant. Signed by W,Skinner. There is a copy.
Z 3/37. No date. 'Old Plans and Section of Corgarff Castle' and plans and section shewing 'Repairs; and on the same Sheet Castle'. To the small scale of 20 feet to an inch. There is no date. There is also a copy. This drawing and that following is also indexed under Corarff Castle'.
Z 3/36.1785. 'Sketch of the loop-holed Walls built round the Castles of Cargarff and Braemar'. Scale is noted not shown. Signed by A.Frazer 31st December, 1785. It is noted that Cargarff was first taken possession of by the troops in March, 1748 and Braemar first occupied in February, 1749'.

Non-Guardianship Sites Plan Collection, DC23098- DC23104, 1748 & 1750.

Notes and Activities

25 October 2007 to 26 October 2007

WATCHING BRIEF

Notes NO 1560 9237 A watching brief was undertaken on 25¿6 October 2007 during the excavation of two service trenches between the curtain wall and the N side of the castle. Braemar Castle was built in 1628 and burnt down in 1689. It remain a ruin until 1748 when it was rebuilt and used as a government garrison, and the star-shaped curtain wall was built. The stratigraphy observed during the watching brief appears to demonstrate that a well or cistern (which is depicted on a 1750 plan of the castle) within a salient of the wall was almost certainly built as part of the mid-18th-century renovations. A similar feature occurs at Corgaff Castle, also garrisoned at the same time.
Reports deposited with Aberdeenshire SMR and RCAHMS.
Funder: Aberdeenshire Council.
H K Murray and J C Murray, 2007.


Further details

26 February 2009

STANDING BUILDING RECORDING

Notes NO 1560 9237 Braemar Castle is an L-plan tower house which was built in 1628 and burnt down in 1689. It remained a ruin until 1748, when it was leased by the Government and used as a garrison with the addition of a star-shaped curtain wall. It was subsequently re-used as a house in the 19th century. Current restoration required the dating and recording of two chimneys built against the inside of the curtain wall. These proved to be part of the 19th-century kitchens built between the castle and the curtain wall. This work was carried out on
26 February 2009.
Report: Aberdeenshire Council SMR and RCAHMS
Funder: Aberdeenshire Council
HK Murray and JC Murray – Murray Archaeological Services Ltd

Further details

Books and References

Bogdan and Bryce, N and I B D (1991) 'Castles, manors and 'town houses' survey', Discovery Excav Scot
Page(s): 32

MacGibbon and Ross, D and T (1887-92) The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth centuries, 5v Edinburgh
Page(s): Vol. 2, 139-42 figs. 597-8 Held at RCAHMS F.5.21.MAC

Murray and Murray, H K and J C (2007e) 'Braemar Castle, Braemar, Aberdeenshire (Crathie and Braemar parish), watching brief', Discovery Excav Scot, vol.8 Cathedral Communications Limited, Wiltshire, England.
Page(s): 17

Murray and Murray, HK and JC (2009f) 'Braemar Castle, Braemar, Aberdeenshire (Crathie and Braemar parish), standing building recording', Discovery Excav Scot, New, vol.10 Cathedral Communications Limited, Wiltshire, England.
Page(s): 20

Scottish Castle Survey (1988) 'A directory of the owners and occupiers of the castles, manors and 'town houses' {c.1050-c.1707} of Scotland: Grampian Region', Aberdeen
Page(s): 43, no. 92/7 Held at RCAHMS B.2.1.CAS

Simpson, W D (1949a) The earldom of Mar: being a sequel to "The Province of Mar", 1943, Aberdeen
Page(s): 97-8 illust. Held at RCAHMS D.5.12.MAR

Skinner, B C (post-1962) Braemar Castle, Aberdeenshire, {s.l.}
Held at RCAHMS D.5.13.BRA.P

The Francis Frith Collection (2005) Scotland-Pictorial Britain, (images from the Frith Archive) in Sackett, T Salisbury, Wiltshire
Page(s): 100 Held at RCAHMS C.2.1.FRI

Werner Company of Chicago (1894) Beautiful Britain: the scenery and the splendours of the United Kingdom: views of our stately houses ... royal residences, palaces and castles, bowers and hunting-lodges, river banks and islets, the homes of princes, London
Page(s): p.7 Held at RCAHMS D.20.WER

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