Huntingtower Castle

Huntingtower Castle was built at least by the 14th century as it was one of the castles owned by the Lords of Badenoch. Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan, called the Wolf of Badenoch for his misdeeds, died there in 1394. Later, in the 15th century the castle was claimed by the Huntly family, or by the Clan Ruthven family. It was known for several hundred years as the 'House (or 'Place') of Ruthven' or 'Ruthven Castle', or simply 'Ryffane', until the family was forfeited for the Gowrie Conspiracy in 1600 and the Ruthven name was suppressed by Act of Parliament. As contemporary writers reported, the "prinsipall howse callyd Ryven is now callyd the Huntynge towre" and, "the House of Riven to…

The original 'Huntingtower' (now known as the 'Eastern Tower') was a free-standing building, constructed primarily as a gatehouse. It consists of three storeys and a garret under the roof. Around the end of the 15th century a second tower (the 'Western Tower') was built alongside the Huntingtower, with a gap of about 3 metres between them. This second tower was L-shaped in plan and was connected to the Huntingtower by a wooden bridge below the level of the battlements. It is thought that this construction was for defensive reasons: if one tower was attacked and taken, residents could flee into the second and draw up the bridge between the two. The space between the two towers was built up…