Aberuchill Castle

Aberuchill Castle, Perth and Kinross Photo © Anthony O'Neil, 14 May 2008

Aberuchill Castle, Perth and Kinross Photo © Dr Richard Murray, 27 January 2008

Comrie (Gaelic: Conruith; Pictish: Aberlednock; Roman: Victoria) is a village and parish towards the western end of the Strathearn district of Perth and Kinross, Scotland, seven miles (11 km) west of Crieff.

Much of the land around Comrie was owned by the Drummond family, Earls of Perth, latterly Earls of Ancaster, whose main seat was Drummond Castle, south of Crieff. Another branch of the Drummonds owned Drummondernoch, to the west of the town. Here also lies Aberuchill Castle, originally a Campbell seat.

The Castle no longer has a resident owner. It is not the medieval fortress one might expect, and now houses privately rent-able (holiday) accommodation. In the season, guests arrive to join hunting & shooting parties in the surrounding hills and on the estate. A picturesque reach of the River Earn runs around the northern edge of the grounds and is popular with anglers. There is also a fish farm in the vicinity.

ABERUCHILL CASTLE, PERTHSHIRE.

A castle of the seventeenth century, now incorporated with a modern mansion. It is beautifully situated at the base of the mountains and amongst fine old trees, about two miles from Comrie. The house was built on the L Plan, with a circular tower in the re-entering angle containing the staircase.

Aberuchill was one of the castles situated in the district so long contested between the Campbells and M'Gregors, of which a lively account is given in the Legend of Montrose. In 1596 a charter of Aberuchill was granted by the Crown to Colin, second son of Campbell of Lawers, and the castle was erected in 1602.

THE CASTELLATED AND DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE OF SCOTLAND BY DAVID MACGIBBON AND THOMAS ROSS, 1889