Midmar Castle, Aberdeenshire
Photo © Colin Smith, 31 August 01
Midmar Castle, Aberdeenshire
Photo © Peter Ward, December 1986
Midmar Castle, Aberdeenshire Photo © Colin Smith, 31 August 01 |
Midmar Castle, Aberdeenshire Photo © Peter Ward, December 1986 |
Midmar, a Z plan castle dating from 1564, is one of the famous castles of Mar, superb examples of Scottish castle building, with many examples of corbelling, crow-stepped gables, round towers, etc. It is now in private hands but may be glimpsed by walkers heading to and from the Hill o'Fare.
MIDMAR CASTLE, ABERDEENSHIRE.
Of this picturesque specimen of the Northern Scottish style of the seventeenth century, there would appear to be almost no history preserved. It is situated in a sequestered glen, and in a region remote from railways, on the northern slope of the Hill of Fare, and about half way between the valleys of the Dee and the Don. Midmar has changed hands frequently, and has borne different titles, having been called originally Midmar, next Ballogie, then Grantsfield, and now it is Midmar again. The building has been a good deal added to and altered, but the main features of the original design are quite discernible. It has originally been built on the Keep plan, with diagonally opposite towers, that on the south-east being circular, and that on the north-west square. Various additions have from time to time been made to the original plan, forming an open courtyard to the north.
The round tower has had some modern additions added to it on the south which are omitted in the view. It is six stories in height, and has a turret stair in the angle, to which it is united by some picturesque corbelling.
The square tower is finished with a gabled roof and round angle turrets which have the broken or chequered corbel course and the cable ornament so common during the Fourth Period of Scottish Architecture. This tower has also a stair turret in the angle, which, as is usual in buildings of this type, springs from corbelling near the ground, the stair to the first floor being a wide square stair, an arrangement very common in late examples. The angle turrets reduce the gable to a mere fragment. The turrets on the main building are somewhat peculiar. They have a profusion of the label-formed corbels so characteristic of Northern work, and they are, contrary to the usual custom, roofed in with a gable instead of the ordinary conical roof. There are thus in this building several examples of the struggle after variety which took place towards the end of the Style.
The outbuildings on the west, containing the kitchen and stable offices, and the dining-room on the east, as well as the terrace leading to the entrance door, are later additions.
The interior of the house preserves many of its original features. The rooms open through one another, without corridors or passages. The walls are panelled and moulded in wood, and the plaster ceilings are ornamented with ribs and devices.
Although quite antique in style and arrangements, it is now occupied as a comfortable mansion, and gives an excellent idea of what such houses were like in the days of James VI.
The Castellated and Domestic Architecture of Scotland by David Macgibbon and Thomas Ross, 1889