Tolquhon Castle
| Tolquhon Castle | ||
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 Gatehouse of Tolquhon Castle |
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| Creation time : | around 1590 | |
| Castle type : | Niederungsburg | |
| Conservation status: | ruin | |
| Geographical location | 57 ° 20 '53.3 " N , 2 ° 12' 47.6" W | |
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Tolquhon Castle (also Tolquhoun , pronounced toh-hon ) is about 20 km northwest of Aberdeen in Aberdeenshire , Scotland . Already in the early 13th century owned by the Preston family, it was not given up as a residence by them until the 18th century.
history
The Preston family was named as the royal Thane of Formartine, the land between the Don and Ythan rivers , at the end of the 12th century. This also owned the lands of Craigmillar near Edinburgh. When Henry Preston, Lord of Formartine, died in 1420 without a male heir, the property was divided. Tolquhon fell to Preston's son-in-law, John Forbes.
The Tower House , built by either Henry Preston or his son-in-law, remained the family residence until 1584.
William Forbes, 7th Laird of Tolquhon , began renovating the existing castle in April 1584. The existing residential tower, called "Preston's Tower", was integrated into the new castle (presumably for reasons of convenience). In December 1589, after the end of the building work, he proudly listed the new rooms and the outbuildings, "my houiss, tour, and place of Tolquhone" in one of his surviving writings .
After William Forbes' death, the castle began to slowly deteriorate under the successive heirs. As militarily successful soldiers who served under various kings, the Lairds of Tolquhon usually moved their homes. William, the 11th Laird, was forcibly "rescued" from the castle by his comrades after being wounded in 1718 and never returned. Subsequently taken over by the Earl of Aberdeen and used as a better farm, the castle was still inhabited until the middle of the 19th century. The further decline did not end until 1929, when Tolquhon Castle was put under state supervision by the then owner, the Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair under his title as "Earl of Haddo".
description
The castle is rectangular and measures around 40 by 30 meters. In front of it is an outer courtyard enclosed by a circular wall, which is about 50 meters wide; It's about 80 meters from the outer gatehouse to the castle entrance. The first architectural feature of Tolquhon Castle can be found in the towers of the outer gatehouse: loopholes in a recumbent position with triple openings. This unusual shape does not appear anywhere before and later only in Dean Castle .
"Preston's Tower" is still largely intact, it forms the northern tower of the castle complex (the tower on the left when you approach). You enter the castle through the inner gatehouse, which consists of two towers richly decorated with stone carvings. The special loopholes can also be found here. If you turn to “Preston's Tower”, you can see the walls, which are up to three meters thick. A stone vaulted cellar forms the basis; above is the hall with a large fireplace. Two more floors with the private apartments, which are no longer preserved today, could be reached via a spiral staircase. A few meters from the entrance to this tower is the fountain from the early days of the castle.
If you go clockwise from “Preston's Tower” through the facility, you will find three storage rooms on the ground floor to the east, and a single large room with unknown use on the first floor. This is followed by the east tower, which houses the bakery and the prison in the base, with a single chamber above it. In the south wing there is the kitchen, the wine cellar and two storage rooms on the ground floor. The servants could reach the Great Hall on the first floor via a spiral staircase. This is where the second architectural feature of the castle can be found: the mosaic-like stone floor. In the west wing, two breweries and a storage room form the lower floor, while the gallery is on the upper floor. The west tower follows with a chamber on both floors, after which the tour ends again at the gatehouse.
The castle today
Even if Tolquhon Castle looks well-preserved at first sight: All roofs are missing and a large part of the walls built by William Forbes has collapsed. The further decay was stopped by structural measures, but apart from the various stone carvings and decorations, nothing more suggests the former splendor of a manor house.
The castle is now under the administration of Historic Scotland .
Picture gallery
Entrance area. The tower on the right is "Preston's Tower"
The great hall from above
Inner courtyard and rear living area
Stone floor in the great hall - detail
literature
- Investigating Tolquhon Castle . Historic Scotland ( PDF ; 1.0 MB [accessed September 21, 2014] series “Information for Teachers”).
- Martin Coventry: The Castles of Scotland . Polygon, Goblinshead 2006.
- Chris Tabraham: Tolquhon Castle . Historic Scotland, Edinburgh 1993, ISBN 0-7480-0660-5 .
Web links
- Tolquhon Castle. Historic Scotland , accessed September 21, 2014 .