Pitsligo Castle

The substantial ruins of the 15th-century Pitsligo Castle overlook the Buchan coast of Aberdeenshire a half-mile (1 km) southeast of Rosehearty. The Frasers of Philorth built a large rectangular keep here in 1424 which passed to the Forbes of Druminnor who extended the castle in the 1570's. Alexander Forbes was created Baron Forbes of Pitsligo in 1633 and began further extensions and improvements, a programme continued by his son, the 2nd Lord Pitsligo, which made the castle one of the finest residences in NE Scotland. A succession of ranges linked to the original tower were formed around a sizeable courtyard. An arched gateway in the west wall of an outer courtyard, is dated as 1656 and displays the arms of the Forbes and Erskines, the 2nd Lord having married Mary Erskine.

The title was forfeited after the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion, when the last resident, Alexander Forbes the 4th Lord Pitsligo, was forced to flee and had to evade arrest for the remainder of his life. In 1989, the castle was bought by Malcolm Forbes, the flamboyant American multi-millionaire publisher of Forbes Magazine, who stabilised the structure of the building. Following his death, the castle passed to the Pitsligo Castle Trust.


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