Craigievar Castle

Craigievar Castle is a pinkish harled castle or fortified country house in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, 6 miles (9.7 km) south of Alford. It was the seat of Clan Sempill for 350 years until 1963, when the property was bequeathed to the National Trust for Scotland by William Forbes-Sempill, 19th Lord Sempill, in the 1960s. The site is among the magnificent undulating foothills of the Grampian Mountains, and the contrast between the large lower-level structure and the carefully carved many turrets, gargoyles, and lofty corbelling work to produce a traditional fairytale image.

A volunteer uncovered what seems to be the property's original oak door in early 2019; it was rebuilt in 1825 and was thought to be lost until 2019. The door was eventually repaired and displayed. By 2013, the castle, its gardens, and an estate of over 200 acres (81 ha) of neighboring farms and woods had celebrated their 50th year as a National Trust for Scotland property. Visits to the castle were permitted from Easter, or the first of April, whichever came first, through the end of September.

In 2018, the castle was available for guided tours on Fridays through Tuesdays from April to June; the gardens were open all year. In 2019, the site had 24,072 visits. The National Trust continued to provide tours of the castle in 2019, but the estate was closed in 2020 because to the COVID-19 epidemic in the UK; when it reopened in July, visitors were limited to the grounds for the remainder of the season. A September 2020 study notes that the castle "takes a main place among the examples of what is known as the fourth or L era, from the shape of ground plan upon which virtually all the Scottish castles of that age".

Location: Craigievar, Alford AB33 8JF, Scotland