Aboyne Castle

Aboyne Castle is a baronial tower house rebuilt in 1671, with later additions and alterations, a 19th-century restoration by George Truefitt, and a 1986 remodelling by Ian Begg. The building is three storeys and has a basement and attic, forming a T-plan with an angle tower to the northwest and a four-storey basement and attic tower to the north. The exterior is harled and lime-washed, featuring an eaves course and crowstepped gables.

The east elevation is symmetrical and gabled, with regular fenestration on each floor. The south elevation is asymmetrical, with five bays demonstrating irregular window placement. A shouldered chimney breast corbels out from the second and third floors, breaking the eaves.

The north elevation, the main entrance, is asymmetrical and features a four-storey tower with irregular fenestration and angle turrets. An ogee-roofed stair tower has a weather-cock finial, while another has decorative ironwork. A decorative doorway, reached by stone steps, is flanked by a window with a heraldic panel. A circular-plan tower dating from 1671 is advanced, with the upper storey corbelled out to form a square plan.

The west elevation is asymmetrical, with two gabled bays and a timber balcony on the third floor, supported by brackets. A circular-plan tower from 1671 is advanced, with regular fenestration and a gableted window breaking the eaves to the attic floor.

The castle has a variety of small-pane timber sash and case windows, and a grey slate roof with a tiled ridge. Coped, harled gablehead and wallhead stacks are present. The interior was not inspected in 1999.

A harled wall with flat coping encloses a courtyard north of the castle. A round-arched gateway displays the Huntly coat of arms, with angle bartizans. Adjacent to the courtyard is a rectangular ancillary structure with basket-arched openings and boarded timber doors. A square-plan rubble boundary wall extends east of the courtyard and incorporates an ogee-roofed summerhouse. Gatepiers with coped necks and spherical finials are located to the west of the courtyard, alongside a modern boarded timber gate.