Knock Castle, Ballater, Aberdeenshire

Knock Castle is a circa 1600 tower house situated on a rocky hillside near Ballater, Aberdeenshire. It is a three-storey and attic rectangular structure, largely complete to the wallhead. The tower is built of rubble granite with squared dressings, and large boulders anchor the corner foundations. Measuring approximately 27 feet by 22 feet, the walls are 4 feet thick. Arrowslit windows are spaced at intervals on each floor and to each elevation.

A doorway is located on the right side of the south elevation, previously leading to a newel stair. Otherwise, the ground floor elevations are blank except for the arrowslit windows. A window is positioned on the first floor to the left of the south and west elevations, and centrally on the north and east, providing light to the hall. A double tier of windows is present on the second floor of the south elevation, with a relieving arch above the upper window. A window is centrally located on the north and east elevations at the second floor, and to the left of the west elevation. A corbelled, gabled caphouse sits on the southeast corner, featuring a window in the gablehead facing south. An additional attic window is found centrally on the east elevation, within a gabled bay. Corbelled, circular bartizans are present on the northeast and northwest corners, each with a small window.

The east and west gables, as well as the caphouse gable, have chimneyheads. Ashlar coped skews are also visible.

Knock Castle is considered a good example of a minor laird's tower house, situated in a prominent location within the landscape. It would have originally been surrounded by ancillary buildings, including stables, a bakehouse, and a brewhouse. A hall would have been located on the first floor and a vaulted basement served as a kitchen. Though the precise construction date is uncertain, it is likely to be from the late 16th or early 17th century.

The lands of Knock were held by a branch of the Gordon family in the 16th century, a family embroiled in a feud with the Forbes family. In 1592, Clan Chattan raided the area, resulting in the death of Henry Gordon of Knock. His brother, Alexander, succeeded him and may have either built the tower or rebuilt its upper sections. Tradition holds that Alexander died falling down the staircase after learning of the Forbes’s killing of his seven sons, and the lands subsequently passed to the Gordons of Abergeldie.

MacGibbon and Ross noted a similarity between Knock Castle and Birse Castle, Aberdeenshire, and observed that the architectural style is late for its period, resembling keeps found in the Borders region. Knock Castle is in state care.