The fall of Brucklay Castle
May 2008
Jacqueline Buchan with the mouldering remains of Brucklay Castle in the background.
by Robert Cook
In the late 16th century James Crawford of Brucklay erected the first towers of what would become ‘one of the finest edifices in Scotland’. The Crawfords were in residence for 208 years, then the Irvines of Drum laid claim to Brucklay for a time before granting it to Arthur Dingwall in 1642 through marriage. Arthur married again in 1744, becoming Dingwall-Fordyce, and it was through the deeds of this family that Brucklay became famous.
The Dingwall-Fordyces boasted two MPs for Aberdeenshire, the most famous of whom was William. He pioneered benefits for his tenants, such as insurance for their cottages, and sent carriages to Banff, Peterhead and Aberdeen each week, so that they had greater mobility. He also drove through gaming laws to aid the rural economy.
The same William Dingwall-Fordyce is responsible for Maud Station and the more northern reaches of the Buchan railway line. Originally the line was to go only as far as Ellon, but through personal campaign and financial subscription Dingwall-Fordyce managed to open the Brucklay station in Maud. On his death in 1875 the Culsh Monument was built for him by tenant subscription.
Many of the Dingwall-Fordyces were great naval men, highly ranked in the East India Company. Arthur Dingwall-Fordyce bought Arthur’s Seat, Aberdeen, in the early 1800s. It was this house and garden that would be sold to Mrs Duthie of Ruthrieston to become the Duthie Park we all enjoy.
Today Brucklay Castle is a ruin. The owner, John Buchan, has looked at the possibility of restoring it, but with estimates well in excess of one million pounds and no funding forthcoming, he has decided to leave it as it is. Most fine days this laird is to be seen on his ride-on lawn mower; while he cannot keep the ivy out of the drawing room, he will not stand for unkempt lawns around his castle.
Brucklay has a subtle appeal to the visitor. Much of the exterior of the north elevation is intact – barring a roof and windows, that is. The efforts of John Smith, accredited with building Slains Castle and the original Balmoral Castle, are still visible in the architecture of the second and third storeys which he extended in 1814.
In contrast, the south elevation is slowly being reclaimed by nature. Ivy, which once grew inside a greenhouse, has long since burst out and scaled the wing, causing walls to crack and crumble.
Of what remains, the impressive east tower is the finest; with ornate bay windows, this three-storey wall comes as a surprise after the maze of plant life you traverse to find it.
Entering this once grand edifice from the front door is trickier than it looks, as the front hall houses much of the south wing, all three stories of it. Yet there are several firm footholds over the rubble and into the corridor beyond, and if you stop to search below the stour and stone you will find a lovely intact – if somewhat dislodged – mosaic floor.
The corridor between the front hall and the back of the building encompasses the oldest part of the castle. While your feet stand on the roof of the barrel-vaulted cellar, your eyes climb the three-storey outer wall. The kitchen flanks left from here, the red and brown tiles still clinging to the wall, though the floor has long since has given up and fallen through.
A tight squeeze away is the butler’s staircase. Now a hollow tower spiralling skyward, it once gave the butler passage from bedrooms on the first floor to the kitchen, cellars and dining room. We can attribute it to architects Thomas Mackenzie and James Matthews who took on Brucklay in 1849; by the time they finished in 1888 they had removed a circular main staircase in favour of a straight one, fitted the butler’s stair, completed the west corbelled tower and extended the front hall and porch.
For those intrepid explorers who come prepared with a torch – and with the permission of the owner – the cellars are a great surprise. While two of the four entrances have been filled in by falling masonry, a cold slab, cupboards, a coal cellar and even the old midden survives. The midden is rather small compared with the one in the grounds which holds fixtures and fittings from the old castle, including a cast iron bath, I’m told. Yet under the ash and mucky medicine bottles, a fire grate and glass jars have started to reveal themselves. Not glorious treasure, true, but it is still a thrill to unearth something last held 200 years ago in the same building.
Beyond the cellar is the dining room. Barely surviving, it still displays some wood panelling and a dado rail, exposed to the elements and now a washed-out brown and white. The butler’s pantry, protected by taller trees, retains some of the pink paint on the walls, but green damp is creeping upwards.
The back of the house once looked out upon a cricket field. From the library one could venture outside to watch the game via an elaborate front door which still exists; carved with heraldic stone emblems of the Dingwall-Fordyce family, it hangs surreally 10 feet in the air where a grand staircase began.
The gracious gardens were designed in three terraces, with stone steps which led to a flowing fountain. The water is long stagnant and in recent years has only yielded a live grenade. While there is talk of the Laird being ‘out’ in 1715 and 1745, this weapon was not Jacobean. During World War II Brucklay Castle became home to prisoners of war who lived out the war in huts around the castle grounds, working on the farm and stables, with the guards garrisoned in the castle. The many hut bases visible around Brucklay are evidence of this time, as are the small rock gardens created by the prisoners. Brass buttons and other trinkets have been found there, and Buchan tells me that the r
west tower shows signs of bullet wounds where bored soldiers took up target practice.
In 1952 Brucklay Castle was sold to Charles Brand of Dundee Ltd. On the 18th of February 1952 anything a person could carry was rouped, the architectural features being sold later. The story goes that the Chief of the Clan Hay led a squad of men in removing a lift from Bruckley, later installing it in Delgaty. Lastly the roof was removed and the castle was left as a desolate shell, occasionally used for hunting.
Dundee Ltd sold the castle because the rates and upkeep, totalling £3,000 a year, became too expensive. The castle went from Dundee Ltd to Andrew Dingwall Fordyce, who then sold it to Edinmore Homes. Edinmore split the land up into 22 lots and sold them off… John Buchan buying the castle park and castle itself.
Brucklay is a castle waiting for a new life, but also it’s a family affair. John Buchan would love one day to convert it into a home for his young daughter. But without a viable second use, the funds needed to put Brucklay Castle together again may never be forthcoming.
Robert Cook has worked in the heritage sector for six years with the NTS and more recently Historic Scotland. A founding member of the Brucklay Castle Restoration Project, he can often be found in the historic ruins of Aberdeenshire.
This is an article from the May 2008 edition of Leopard Magazine. To read much more like this every month, see our subscription details.
I grew up near New Deer in the 1940’s and early 50’s and have happy memories of Brucklay. We had friends who lived on the estate and we played in the woods as children.
I have now lived in Sweden for over 30 years and have done some research on famous Swedish families of Scottish descent. One of these is the Crawford (or Crafoord)family which is still well known here. I have found historical accounts in Sweden that indicate that the Crafoords originally owned Fedderate Castle, which is almost within sight of Brucklay.
Does anyone know if the Crafoords occupied both Brucklay and Fedderate at the same time? And is there there any local history relating to their move to Sweden in the 17th Century?
Jim Jack
— Jim Jack 13 May 2008 #