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Yew Hedge at Crathes Castle gardens
Photograph by Karen Bryan. Some rights reserved. (view image details)
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Crathes Castle, Near Banchory, Scotland. 16th Century castle with additional building carried out in the 18th century.
Photograph by Paul Stevenson. Some rights reserved. (view image details)
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CRATHES CASTLE FACTS
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Location
Banchory, Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire
Description
Crathes Castle is a 16th century tower house castle with beautiful formal gardens, located near Banchory in Aberdeenshire. The castle and grounds are presently owned and managed by the National Trust for Scotland and are open to the public. The castle estate cover 530 acres of woodlands and fields, including nearly four acres of walled garden. Ancient topiary hedges of Irish yew dating from 1702 separate the gardens into eight themed areas. The castle contains a significant collection of portraits, and still has original Jacobean painted ceilings in several rooms.
History
Crathes is built on land given as a gift to the Burnett of Leys family by King Robert the Bruce in 1323. (Along with the land, Robert the Bruce also gave them the jeweled ivory Horn of Leys, which is now on display in the Great Hall of the castle.) The castle construction started in 1553 and was completed in 1596. The East-west wing was added in the 18th Century. Crathes Castle was the ancestral seat of the Burnetts of Leys family until gifted to the National Trust for Scotland in 1951. A fire damaged portions of the castle (in particular the Queen Anne wing) in 1966.
Date
16th century
Access
A93 from Aberdeen, heading towards Banchory.
Legends
The Green Lady's Room is supposedly haunted by the ghost of a lady carrying a baby. The ghost of the woman and baby has been seen crossing the room before vanishing near the fireplace. Sightings first appeared in the 18th Century when workmen renovating the room uncovered skeletons under the hearthstone. The Green Lady of Crathes Castle is not often seen these days - it is said that when she is seen a member of the Burnett family will die.
Links
the National Trust for Scotland
Other Castles in the Area
Balfluig Castle
Birse Castle
Castle Fraser
Cluny Castle
Craigievar Castle
Drum Castle
Dunnottar Castle
Edzell Castle
Forbes Castle
Harthill Castle
Invermark Castle
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