Muchalls Castle
| Muchalls Castle | |
|---|---|
| Aberdeenshire, Scotland | |
Muchalls Castle
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| Site information | |
| Open to the public |
No |
| Condition | In use |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1300 |
| Built by | Frasers of Muchalls |
| In use | Present |
| Materials | Stone |
Muchalls Castle stands overlooking the North Sea in the countryside of Kincardine and Mearns, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The lower course is a well preserved Romanesque, double-groined 13th century towerhouse structure, built by the Frasers of Muchalls. Upon this structure, the 17th-century castle was begun by Alexander Burnett of Leys and completed by his son, Sir Thomas Burnett, 1st Baronet, in 1627. The Burnetts of Leys built the remaining four storey present day castle.
One of the most interesting castles of northeast Scotland, according to noted architectural historian Nigel Tranter, it is designed in the classic L style with a further extension wing at the west end. Muchalls Castle entered national history in 1638 when a seminal Covenanter gathering took place here precedent to the English Civil War.
The plasterwork ceilings of the principal drawing rooms are generally regarded as among the three finest examples of plasterwork ceilings in Scotland. These adornments date to 1624 and are in virtually perfect condition. They consist of heraldry of the Burnett of Leys family, along with heraldry of relations and friends intermixed with biblical iconography. The overmantel of the Great Hall fireplace features the arms of King James VI flanked by impressive egyptianesque figures.
The lower course of this L Plan Castle is the original 14th-century ground level of the Clan Fraser towerhouse. On this level are a dungeon, guard room, storerooms, a chamber for merchants and visitors waiting to see the Laird, and a medieval kitchen. In the medieval kitchen the interior wall is over five metres thick, accommodating a hidden staircase and affording bearing strength to support the upper levels. A long hall passageway was constructed as a barrel vaulted design. The dungeon is noted for its small window and still has the large steel hinges to which the dungeon door would have attached. The medieval kitchen has its original 14th-century flagstones; moreover, this room features a large walk-in fireplace with a secret spiral staircase that servants would have used in medieval times to carry meals to the higher levels. (Servants at that time would have not been allowed on the main staircases used by the nobility who dwelt in the castle.) Ownership of the castle and lands passed to the Hays in the 15th century probably associated with the same real estate transaction of the lands of Ury in 1413 AD.
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