View source for Corgarff Castle

{{Short description|Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox military installation
|name=Corgarff Castle
|ensign=Lord Forbes arms.svg
|ensign_alt=Badge of Clan Forbes
|ensign_size=
|native_name=
|location=[[Aberdeenshire]]
|nearest_town=[[Corgarff]]
|country=[[Scotland]]
|image=Corgarff Castle from Lecht Road.jpg
|alt=Corgarff Castle viewed from the Lecht Road
|caption=Corgarff Castle viewed from the Lecht Road
|type=[[Castle]]
|mapframe=yes
|mapframe-wikidata=yes
|coordinates = {{coord|57|9|46|N|3|14|3|W|type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
|ownership=[[Historic Environment Scotland]]
|open_to_public=Yes
|built=Mid-16th century<br />Rebuilt in mid-18th century
|used=16th Century-1831
|builder=[[Clan Forbes]]
|condition=Restored
|events=Razed in 1571 by [[Adam Gordon of Auchindoun|Adam Gordon]]
|website=[https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/corgarff-castle/ Historic Environment Scotland]
|module={{Infobox designation list
| embed = yes
| designation1 = Scheduled Monument
| designation1_offname = Corgarff Castle
| designation1_type = Secular: barracks; castle
| designation1_date = 30 December 1936
| designation1_number = {{Historic Environment Scotland|num=SM90080|short=yes}}
}}
}}
{{Campaignbox Clan Gordon-Clan Forbes feud}}

'''Corgarff Castle''' is located slightly west of the village of [[Corgarff]], in [[Aberdeenshire]], north-east [[Scotland]]. It stands by the Lecht road, which crosses the pass between [[Strathdon]] and [[Tomintoul]].

==Life==

The castle was built around 1530 by the Elphinstone family and leased to the Forbes of [[Towie, Aberdeenshire|Towie]].<ref name="Coventry2015">{{cite book | first = Martin |last=Coventry | date = 2015 | title = The Castles of Scotland: A Comprehensive Guide to More Than 4,100 Castles, Towers, Historic Houses, Stately Homes and Family Lands | edition = 5 | publisher = Goblinshead | pages = | isbn = 978-1-899874-56-9}}</ref> In 1571, it was burned by their enemy, [[Adam Gordon of Auchindoun]], resulting in the deaths of Margaret Campbell, Lady Forbes, her children, and numerous others, 26 in total, and giving rise to the ballad [[Edom o Gordon]]{{Dubious|Unsourced; articles "Edom o Gordon" and "Towie Castle" leave it more open|date=March 2020}}.

In May 1607, the castle was captured from [[Alexander Elphinstone, 4th Lord Elphinstone|Alexander, 4th Lord Elphinstone]] by Alexander Forbes of Towie and his companions, including a piper called George McRobie. They used hammers and battering rams to break down the gate, then fortified the house with a garrison of "Highland thieves and limmers".<ref>''Register of the Privy Council of Scotland'', vol. 7 (Edinburgh, 1885), p. 303.</ref>

In 1626, it was acquired by the [[Earl of Mar]]. In 1645, it was used as an assembly point by the troops of the [[Marquis of Montrose]]. It was burned again in both 1689 and 1716 by Jacobite supporters. It was resettled by the Forbes family in 1745 but had to be forfeited due to their Jacobite leanings.<ref name="Coventry2015"/>

In 1748, it was bought by the British government and rebuilt and extended as a barracks. A detachment of government troops were stationed there, on the [[Old military roads of Scotland#Blairgowrie to Inverness|military road]] from [[Braemar Castle]] to [[Fort George, Scotland|Fort George]], Inverness. Military use continued as late as 1831, after which the tower was used to suppress illegal whisky distilling in the surrounding area. It remained part of the Delnadamph estate belonging to the Stockdale family until they passed the castle into state care in 1961 and gave the ownership of the castle to the Lonach Highland and Friendly Society.

It is now in the care of [[Historic Environment Scotland]] and is open to the public.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/16284/details/corgarff+castle |title=Corgarff Castle |publisher=[[RCAHMS]] |access-date=3 April 2014}}</ref> It has been designated a [[scheduled monument]].<ref>{{Historic Environment Scotland|num=SM90080|desc=Corgarff Castle|access-date=27 February 2019}}</ref>

==References==
{{commons category| Corgarff Castle}}
{{reflist}}

*{{cite journal |last=Simpson |first=W. Douglas |author-link=W. Douglas Simpson |journal=Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland |volume=61 |year=1927 |pages=48–103 |url=http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-352-1/dissemination/pdf/vol_061/61_048_111.pdf |title=Corgarff Castle, Aberdeenshire|doi=10.9750/PSAS.061.48.103 }}

== External links ==
*Historic Environment Scotland: [https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/corgarff-castle Visitor guide]
*360 Photographic Virtual Tour: [https://360castles.com/corgarff-castle Snow Covered 360 Virtual Tour of Corgarff grounds ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930080920/https://360castles.com/corgarff-castle/ |date=30 September 2021 }}
{{Marr, Aberdeenshire places|state = collapsed}}

[[Category:Castles in Aberdeenshire]]
[[Category:Museums in Aberdeenshire]]
[[Category:Military and war museums in Scotland]]
[[Category:Historic house museums in Aberdeenshire]]
[[Category:Historic Environment Scotland properties in Aberdeenshire]]
[[Category:Scheduled monuments in Aberdeenshire]]
[[Category:Tower houses in Scotland]]