Fyvie Castle
| Fyvie Castle | ||
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 Fyvie Castle |
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| Creation time : | before 1210 | |
| Castle type : | Niederungsburg | |
| Conservation status: | Preserved / restored | |
| Standing position : | Crown | |
| Geographical location | 57 ° 26 '35.9 " N , 2 ° 23' 41.6" W | |
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Fyvie Castle is a castle in the parish of Fyvie near Turriff , Aberdeenshire in Scotland . It was part of a whole chain of royal complexes that were built to secure the borders of medieval monarchies in Scotland. The land was a royal hunting property , the name fyvie comes from the Gaelic and means " deer hill ". Over the centuries, different owners have expanded the castle again and again, so that today five residential towers built together with the outbuildings give the appearance of a palace complex.
history
Strategically located in a loop of the Ythan River and therefore only directly accessible from the south, the earliest fortifications made of wood and earth walls came from the end of the 12th century. There is evidence of a visit by King William the Lion to Fyvie Castle in 1211 (or 1214). King Alexander II signed a document in the castle on February 22nd, 1222; while the English King Edward I was probably less welcome on "Fyvin Chastel" during his campaign against John Balliol on July 21, 1296.
The castle remained in royal possession until 1370. Then it was given by King Robert II to the private property of his eldest son John (later Robert III ). He in turn transferred it first to his cousin James Lindsay, but then as king in 1391 as part of a business to James' brother-in-law Henry Preston. The Preston family did not move into Fyvie Castle until 1402, but as early as 1433 the property was married to the Meldrum family. Handed over to a henchman, the castle was so deeply in debt that it was sold to Alexander Seton, later "Chancellor of Scotland", in 1596.
In 1694 James, 4th Earl of Dunfermline, grandson and heir to Alexander Seton, died in exile in Paris after the Scottish Jacobite uprisings ; the castle had already been confiscated and was again in the possession of the crown. In 1733 it was sold to William Gordon of Haddoo, 2nd Earl of Aberdeen. Fyvie Castle remained in the possession of the Gordon family until 1885 when Maurice Duff-Gordon put it up for sale for financial reasons.
In 1889, a buyer was found in Alexander Leith, later Lord Leith of Fyvie. Fyvie Castle changed hands for £ 175,000. The family lived in the complex until 1984, when Andrew Forbes-Leith sold the castle to the National Trust for Scotland .
description
Traditionally, the five residential towers are attributed to the five owner families, even if this could not be confirmed by closer investigations: The "Preston Tower" is in the east of the complex, the "Seton Tower" forms the imposing center of the south front, while the "Meldrum Tower" forms the western end. The "Gordon Tower" is in the north, while the "Leith Tower", a whole wing rather than a single residential tower, can be found in the northwest.
The builders of the three towers that make up the southern front are not known. It is documented that they already existed before 1600, since between 1601 and 1620 Alexander Seton had the two corner towers, the central tower and the curtain wall between them converted into the front that is visible today. The buildings between the towers were erected during this time, as were the superstructures (“the fourth floor”) on the three towers. The "Gordon Tower" was built by William Gordon around 1790, and the man-made lake and the parkland are also from him. The last extensions, the "Leith Tower" and the nearby sports house (with glass roof, squash hall and bowling alley) were commissioned by Alexander Leith between 1890 and 1901 and carried out by John Bryce. They clearly show the need for living space and comfort of an industrial magnate at the beginning of the 19th century.
Fyvie Castle is now used as a museum. A total of 18 rooms on several floors can be visited; access to the individual floors is via the “Great Stair”, an imposing spiral staircase with a diameter of over six meters. Particularly worth seeing are the dining room with furnishings from 1790, the library from 1900, also with books from previous owners of the castle, as well as the gallery with a self-playing organ, Brussels tapestries from the 17th century and a marble fireplace from 1521.
literature
- Christopher Hartley: Fyvie Castle . M&M Press, Glasgow 1994.
- Maurice Lindsay: The Castles of Scotland . Constable, London 1986, ISBN 0-09-473430-5 .
- Mike Salter: The Castles of Grampian & Angus . Folly Publications, Malvern 1995.
Web links
- Fyvie Castle, Turiff / Aberdeenshire. Spukorte.de, 2013, accessed on September 21, 2014 .
- Fyvie Castle. National Trust for Scotland, accessed September 21, 2014 .