Drum Castle is a Grade A listed building in the Aberdeenshire local planning authority area, Scotland. First listed on 16 April 1971. Castle. 15 related planning applications.
Drum Castle
- WRENN ID
- late-pewter-auburn
- Grade
- A
- Local Planning Authority
- Aberdeenshire
- Constituency
- West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine MP: Andrew Bowie (Con)
- Country
- Scotland
- Date first listed
- 16 April 1971
- Type
- Castle
- Address
- Drum Castle, AB31 5EY
- OS grid reference
- NJ 796 004
- Coordinates
- 57.09496, -2.33797
- Source
- Historic Environment Scotland listing
Description
Drum Castle is a historic tower built around 1280 to 1300, measuring 53 feet by 40 feet and standing 70 feet high. It is constructed from rubble with rounded corners and features original corbelled battlements. The tower includes a vaulted basement and two upper vaults that were originally separated by timber floors. A wheel stair leads from the first floor to the battlements. The hall and solar were fitted with an inner plaster vault and converted into a library around 1840.
In addition to the tower, a large mansion was added, which has two storeys and a basement, with the eastern part featuring three storeys and a basement. The main front of the mansion faces south and includes square angle towers, harled walls, and sculptured dormer heads. A centre architraved doorpiece was inserted, and the steps to the main floor were added, along with enlarged main floor windows around 1800.
The castle features a courtyard with a brewhouse located at the northeast and an original gateway in the west wall. A new courtyard entrance, staircase, and corridors were added to the north side of the 1619 wing, and the northwest part of the courtyard was rebuilt with a new northern gateway and angle tower designed by David Bryce in 1875.
Local climate
Drum Castle receives an average of 870 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 62% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 63% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 26 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 72% of listed buildings. Of these, 17 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 — 15 applications
- 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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