Fyvie Castle
Fyvie Castle is a castle in the village of Fyvie, near Turriff in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
The earliest parts of Fyvie Castle date from the 13th century - some sources claim it was built in 1211 by William the Lion. Fyvie was the site of an open-air court held by Robert the Bruce, and Charles I lived there as a child. Following the Battle of Otterburn in 1390, it ceased to be a royal stronghold and instead fell into the possession of five successive families - Preston, Meldrum, Seton, Gordon and Leith - each of whom added a new tower to the castle.
Inside, the castle stronghold features a great wheel stair, a display of original arms and armour, and a particularly fine collection of portraits.
Manus O'Cahan and Montrose fought a successful minor battle against the Covenant Army at Fyvie Castle on October 28th, 1644. Following Victorian trends, the grounds and adjoining Loch Fyvie were landscaped in the 19th century. The American industrialist Alexander Leith (later Alexander Forbes-Leith, 1st and last Baron Leith of Fyvie) bought the castle in 1885. It was sold to the National Trust for Scotland in 1984 by his descendants.
The castle (like many Scottish castles) is said to be haunted. A story is told that in 1920 during renovation work the skeleton of a woman was discovered behind a bedroom wall. On the day the remains were laid to rest in Fyvie cemetery, the castle residents started to be plagued by strange noises and unexplained happenings. Fearing he had offended the dead woman, the Laird of the castle had the skeleton exhumed and replaced behind the bedroom wall, at which point the haunting ceased. It is said that there is a secret room in the south-west corner of the castle that must remain sealed, lest anyone entering meet with disaster.[1] It's not clear if this is the same room in which the skeleton was found. There is also an indelible blood stain, two ghosts and two curses associated with this place. One of the curses has been attributed to the prophetic laird, Thomas the Rhymer.
Fyvie Castle has featured in a number of British television programmes, such as Living TV's Most Haunted season 6. [2] and stv's Castles of Scotland.[3] The castle also played host of the setting of a children's gameshow on CBBC called Spook Squad in 2004. 2009 saw the publication and of the children's fantasy novel, The Time-Tailor and the Fyvie Castle Witch Trials, written by Deborah Leslie.[4]
Today, the castle is open to tourists during the summer months.
References
- ^ Anthony D. Hippisley Coxe, Haunted Britain, page 177, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York 1973
- ^ http://www.livingtv.co.uk/mosthaunted/214.php
- ^ http://www.scotlandontv.tv/scotland_on_tv/discover/Scottish_Castles.html
- ^ http://www.deborahleslie.co.uk/Time_Tailor.htm
External links
- http://www.fyviecastle.com/
- Fyvie Castle - National Trust for Scotland
Settlements and places of interest in Formartine, Aberdeenshire | ||
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57°26′36″N 2°23′42″W / 57.4433°N 2.3949°W
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- Castles in Aberdeenshire
- Category A listed buildings
- Listed castles in Scotland
- Listed buildings in Aberdeenshire
- National Trust for Scotland properties
- Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes
- Paranormal places
- Haunted houses
- Gardens in Aberdeenshire
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