Cairnbulg Castle is a z-plan castle situated in Cairnbulg, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It was described by W. Douglas Simpson as one of the nine castles of the Knuckle, referring to the rocky headland of north-east Aberdeenshire.[1] It stands by the River Philorth and was originally known as Philorth Castle (or Philorth House).[2] The 17th-century Philorth Castle, an L-plan house consisting of a sizeable crow-stepped block, was demolished after a fire in 1915.[3]
The castle was built in the early 14th century but destroyed in the winter of 1308–1309 in the Wars of Independence. After being owned by the Comyns up until 1375,[4] it was subsequently granted to the Earls of Ross. It was rebuilt in 1380 after the daughter of the 5th Earl married Sir Alexander Fraser of Cowie. In 1545,[4] a second, round, tower, a courtyard and outbuildings were added to the original main square tower.[2]
In 1613, after nearly bankrupting themselves,[5] the Frasers of Philorth sold the castle, which — after passing through several other families of the Fraser clan, including the Frasers of Durris[5] — ended up in 1775 with George Gordon, 3rd Earl of Aberdeen, who removed anything of value. It lay abandoned by 1799.[4]
In 1896, the two towers were restored and its central building rebuilt by Jenkins & Marr for Sir John Duthie, a barrister.[4] In the late Victorian period the castle, by now almost a ruin after a 1915 fire,[3] was purchased and restored by the wealthy Duthie family of Aberdeen. In 1934, it returned to the Fraser family after being bought by Lord Saltoun, a direct descendant of the 8th Laird.[2]Flora Fraser, 21st Lady Saltoun, and her husband, Captain Alexander Ramsay of Mar, who was one of Queen Victoria's great-grandchildren, lived there for a while.Шаблон:When Their daughter, Katharine Fraser, Mistress of Saltoun, took possession of the castle in 1997.[6]
During the Second World War, the castle was used as the Officers' Mess for nearby RAF Fraserburgh.Шаблон:Citation needed
