Our 100th Adventure!: Aberdour Castle
Aberdour Castle is one of the two oldest dated castles in Scotland which are still standing. Parts of the castle are from around 1200 (we explored the possible involvement with the de Mortimer's in our last post) and it is the hall house which is the oldest aspect of the property. The castle was then expanded over the next 4 centuries and the hall house became a tower house at some point in the 15th century. It was then extended twice more in the 16th century and the final addition was added in 1635 complimented by a walled garden and terraced gardens. These terraces form one of the oldest gardens in Scotland cementing this property strongly in history.
It is interesting to note of the connection to King James I this castle has. It was his daughter Joanna, who married the first Earl of Morton which was a title created after the barony for Aberdour and Dalkeith was combined in 1386. He was given the title prior to his marriage to Joanna in 1458.
It was the Earls of Morton who used the castle as a second home until they moved in full time in 1642. This explains why the Countess had such an issue with worshippers of St Fillan's as she felt her home was exposed.
Repairs took place in the late 17th century following a fire, but the family moved out in 1725 in favour of Aberdour House. The castle was then allowed to fall into ruin resulting in the collapse of the tower.
Also at the property is a 16th century beehive dovecot, or doocot as we're in Scotland. It contains about 600 next boxes and differs massively in design from the one near the high street which has been left to decay. In terms of the garden one of the doors located in the walls leads to St Fillan's and is engraved with the Earl and Countess's initials. The garden also game into use in the Second World War when it was used for markets and pig rearing so it has played a part in several different eras of history.
Unfortunately, aside from the wild history of all the Earls who lived here, whether it be exile, execution, or a dispute in land due to rent issues, there isn't really any other history on the property itself. Records are on the changes made and the people who made them, not the gory bits that the building lived through until it was abandoned due to repairs being so expensive.
We visited on a Sunday morning when they'd just opened. Locals were traipsing trough the garden to get to St Fillan's Church and we pretty much had the place to ourselves. Still sparkling with the early morning dew, the ruins of this place were magnificent. The rooved areas where dogs aren't allowed were interactive especially the stable area, which we found refreshing. It was also a very peaceful walk within the garden space, especially to the doocot. There's some preservation works ongoing as bits have started to fall off, but they've tried to make it interesting as well as safety conscious and so have left some photos for you to see what you're missing. Overall this was one of our more interesting visits during the Scottish leg of our roadtrip and we think we'd quite like to go back to Aberdour, there's even an island nearby with a ruined abbey on. Only accessible by boat we had to give it a miss this time, but it's on the list now!
Would we consider this castle haunted? Yes, but mildly. There is a definite spiritual vibe that'll give you a shudder within the more ruined parts of the castle. While we can't find any recorded deaths here, this place will have lived through the wars just like everywhere else we've been. We don't know the part it played. It's certainly colder within those walls than elsewhere at this idyllic site, but we'd love to uncover some local stories later down the line!
**we are aware the plural of roof has changed since and rooved is now incorrect, however in older English texts this was correct to describe an establishment with a roof so we're keeping it in.
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