Balfluig Castle
Balfluig Castle is a residential tower in Alford in the Scottish county of Aberdeenshire . The L-shaped building dates from the middle of the 16th century. The tower is clearly visible throughout the place. It can be viewed by arrangement.
history
The first owner of Balfluig Castle was a branch of the Forbes Clan . The keystones at the entrance show the year it was built in 1556. The castle was burned to the ground in the Battle of Alford in 1645. 1753 bought Farquharson from Haughton the estate. Later the residential tower served as a farmhouse. It had fallen into disrepair in the 1960s, but the new owner, Mark Tennant , had it restored; it was one of the first permanent houses to be saved with the help of the Scottish Historic Building Council , particularly through the mediation of W. Douglas Simpson .
The construction year of the residential tower is remarkable because there was little private construction activity in Scotland during this period.
architecture
The floor plan of the residential tower is very unusual. The main block has three full floors and an attic. The attached wing, one floor higher and with an attached watchtower, protrudes to the east of the main block so that there are two interior angles. A semicircular stair tower rises in the southwest interior corner. The corners below the roof are pointed, but rounded on the floors below. The walls have many loopholes. There is a massive chimney draft on the south gable. A courtyard leads to the entrance, an arched passage, protected by loopholes, which is located in the main interior corner.
On the ground floor of the main block there are two vaulted rooms, the kitchen and the wine cellar. A private staircase leads to the knight's hall on the floor above with an attached, vaulted salon. On the ground floor of the side wing there is a vaulted guard room with a small prison below the stairs. The residential tower consists of a rough rock break; the cladding is partly made of sandstone and partly of granite . The open wooden roof probably dates from the time the castle was restored after the Battle of Alford.
Historic Scotland has listed Balfluig Castle as a Category A Historic Building.
Say
The legend tells of another permanent house nearby. The rival lords of the two castles are said to have shot at each other from the respective guard rooms. After one eventually shot the other, remorse fell over the survivor.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Maurice Lindsay: The Castles of Scotland . Constable, 1986. ISBN 0-09-473430-5 . P. 63.
- ↑ Balfluig Castle . In: Gazetteer for Scotland . Retrieved February 14, 2017.
- ↑ a b c Listed Building - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
Coordinates: 57 ° 13 ′ 27.7 " N , 2 ° 41 ′ 11.2" W.