Muchalls Castle

Muchalls Castle stands overlooking the North Sea in the countryside of Kincardine and Mearns, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The lower course is a well-preserved Romanesque, double-groined 13th-century tower house structure, built by the Frasers of Muchalls. Upon this structure, the 17th-century castle was begun by Alexander Burnett of Leys and completed by his son, Sir Thomas Burnett, 1st Baronet, in 1627. The Burnetts of Leys built the remaining four-storey present-day castle.

One of the most interesting castles in North-East Scotland, according to noted architectural historian Nigel Tranter, it is designed in the classic L style with a further extension wing at the west end. Muchalls Castle entered national history in 1638 when a seminal Covenanter gathering took place there, precedent the English Civil War.

The plasterwork ceilings of the principal drawing rooms are generally regarded as among the three finest examples of plasterwork ceilings in Scotland. These adornments date to 1624 and are in virtually perfect condition. They consist of heraldry of the Burnett of Leys family, along with heraldry of relations and friends intermixed with biblical iconography. The overmantel of the Great Hall fireplace features the arms of King James VI flanked by impressive egyptianesque figures.

Text adapted from “Muchalls Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Muchalls Castle ranks #5,116 of 8,764 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #179 of the 207 mapped in Scotland. Founded 1624, it is older than 31% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 672 atlas entries founded in the 17th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,527 times in the last 60 days, more than 61% of the atlas. 5 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Aberdeen, 16 km away. It is one of the 27 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of Aberdeenshire. It is stop 2 of 21 on the Aberdeenshire castle trail, Stonehaven to Aberdeen. See how Scotland compares in the castle statistics.

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