Towie Barclay Castle is a Grade A listed building in the Aberdeenshire local planning authority area, Scotland. First listed on 24 November 1972. House. 1 related planning application.
Towie Barclay Castle
- WRENN ID
- ragged-footing-linden
- Grade
- A
- Local Planning Authority
- Aberdeenshire
- Constituency
- Gordon and Buchan MP: Harriet Cross (Con)
- Country
- Scotland
- Date first listed
- 24 November 1972
- Type
- House
- Address
- Towie Barclay Castle, AB53 8EP
- OS grid reference
- NJ 744 439
- Coordinates
- 57.48492, -2.42806
- Source
- Historic Environment Scotland listing
Description
Towie Barclay Castle is a large L-plan tower house built in 1593, constructed from rubble and featuring two storeys. The upper part and gable of the east wing were demolished in 1792. The current east gable, upper floor of the wing, and battlemented parapet with bartizans were added by James Duncan in 1874. The castle was restored and harled with exposed dressings by J J Meldrum between 1971 and 1973. The main jamb measures 44 feet by 34 feet and lies in a north-south orientation. The ground floor is vaulted in two compartments, with a passage on the east side that has a rib-vault over the entrance and two turnpike stairs at the south end. The first-floor hall, measuring 20 feet by 30 feet, features a high rib-vault in two compartments, with an oratory (or 'piper's gallery' in some descriptions) in an elevated rib-vaulted window embrasure over the screens passage at the east end. A quatrefoil balcony was added during Duncan's restoration. An outbuilding with a short single-storey link to the tower is located to the north.
Local climate
Towie Barclay Castle receives an average of 870 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 63% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 92% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 36 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 65% of listed buildings. Of these, 27 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- Related listed building consents — 1 application
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
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