Huntly Castle back on top as tower reopens

Visitors can now climb again to the top of Huntly’s most historic building following the reopening of its tower.

Historic Environment Scotland knows that Huntly Castle has played a far greater role in Scotland’s past than many folk might realise.

Therefore it was decided to hold a small ceremony to mark the reopening of the spiral staircase which leads from the servants quarters to the top of the tower.

Victoria MacEwen, who manages the castle for the heritage organisation, said: “The tower has been closed since shortly after the pandemic as refurbishments were required.

“The work was completed by our maintenance and conservation unit, which is based at the Kildrummy depot and headed up by Brian Forth. It’s thanks to their skills and hard work that the tower is now open once more.

“The view is magnificent, which is hardly surprising as it’s called a room with a view. It is also possible to reach the top of the tower in stages so you don’t have to go up all five storeys at once.”

The first castle was built from timber in the 1100s, was called the Peel of Strathbogie and belonged to the Earls of Fife.

Once loyal to the cause of Robert the Bruce, the family made the mistake of going over to the English side shortly before the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.

After the Bruce triumphed he duly confiscated the castle and gave it instead to the Gordon family who would become the Earls of Huntly and change the name to Huntly Castle.

Fast forward to October 1562 and Mary Queen of Scots, having fallen out with the fourth Earl of Huntly, sent an armed contingent to the castle in October 1562 to arrest him.

The story goes that a castle watchman saw them approaching a mile away.

Upon being hastily alerted, the Earl without "boot or sword" hopped over a low wall at the back of the castle, found a horse and managed to escape. However, it would be only a brief respite.

After raising some 700 supporters the Earl set off with the intention of capturing the Queen. But, on the 28th day of that same month of October, his army was defeated at the Battle of Corrichie by troops loyal to Mary.

The fourth Earl was taken alive but died of “apoplexy” while being mounted on a horse to be led away as a captive. His embalmed corpse was later tried and found guilty of treason in Edinburgh.

In addition the castle was ransacked, while one of the Earl’s sons was beheaded in Aberdeen in front of Queen Mary.

Political and religious turmoil engulfed Scotland and amongst those at the forefront was another Gordon, the fifth Earl of Huntly.

But having remained loyal to Mary during the civil war, he actually ended up dying on the football field rather than a battlefield, suffered a stroke during a game in the castle’s grounds.

This event set in motion a series of supernatural occurrences, which began with the sudden collapse of four of his servants, and ended with the sound of unexplained and ghostly noises emanating from within the locked chapel where his body had been laid out.

Not to be outdone by his predecessors, the sixth Earl of Huntly, who was a Catholic, fell out with James VI.

When the king arrived on April 26, 1589, with the intention of demolishing the castle, the Earl has already stripped it of all its furniture and fled to the mountains.

Eventually, however, he found himself back in the royal good books, as can be seen by a Latin inscription still visible on a wall, which glories in his being promoted in rank from an Earl to a Marquess.

The Gordons were of Scotland’s most powerful families and continued to be the castle’s owners for the next 700 years, finally passing it over, in 1923, to a forerunner of Historic Environment Scotland.

Entertainment at the tower’s re-opening ceremony was provided by the youngsters from the Brenda Gordon School of Dance as well as the Deveron Singers.

Also present were volunteers who help out at the site such as Gordon McKen, a former Gordon Highlander with a wealth of military knowledge, and Dawn McLachlan, a published poet and author as well as an enthusiastic tour guide.

That’s not to forget Huntly Rotary’s citizen of the year Theresa Lee, plus local historian Patrick Scott whose book The History of Strathbogie, a definitive guide to the town, is available from Orb’s Bookstore in the Square.

Victoria added “ Huntly Castle is a wonderful and beautiful building which gives you a real sense of the past.

“There was an old inventory found which had been used to create an illustration of how the palace might have looked in about 1599.

“Were also very lucky that it’s in such a beautiful location near the river Deveron with lots of red squirrels running about. You can even meet Buster the cat who has made his home the visitor centre. He’s quite a character”.