From This is North Scotland, 19th January 2008
CASTLE OF TURRETS AND TREACHERY
It would be perfect for princesses but just as good as an amazing party pad - and it comes with tales of treachery and murder.
Tillycairn Castle, which was built in the 16th century, near Sauchen, is for sale with a price tag of offers over £825,000. The seven bedrooms and three bathrooms, grand hall and laird's room should be exclusive enough for most people's needs, with a flagstaff on the top of a turret for the family flag. It also boasts views of farmland and woodland, together with Bennachie and Corrennie Hill.
Selling agents Strutt and Parker said it was very unusual to have a genuine castle on the market, and the firm has had only two others for sale in the area in the past 15 years.
David Strang-Steele, partner in the firm, said: "We probably get about one castle for sale every five or more years across Scotland - it's very unusual."
Tillycairn will forever have ties with the surnames Lumsden and Forbes. The earliest recorded mention of the area of Tillycairn is in 1444 when it was granted in a charter to James Forbes, the eldest son of Alexander, the first Lord Forbes.
In 1526, as part of a pursuit of the old quarrel between the Forbeses and the Leslies, John Forbes and a representative of the family, John Strachan, murdered Alexander Seton of Meldrum. For his part in this crime, Forbes obtained a remission from the king in 1530. Strachan, who was also guilty of sacking Kildrummy Castle and implicated in the murder of John King of Bourtie, did not obtain his remission until the following year.
Five years later, there was a more serious charge - conspiring to shoot King James V while visiting Aberdeen - which was brought against the two men. John Forbes was executed, while Strachan was convicted but pardoned.
Full Version: Tillycairn Castle
From Canmore
QUOTE
Site Summary
Tillycairn, c.1550. Substantial four-storey-and-attic, harled, L-plan country house with rounded angles and fine stair-tower in re-entrant angle topped with bold ashlar caphouse. Angle turrets on strong corbels. Almost hidden from the main road, on an elevated site, this is a most rewarding building, particularly in the massing of windows and turrets on the south front, or the interest inspired by the view into the re-entrant. Although referred to as a 'bantam cock', Tillycairn is one of the central Aberdeenshire chateaux whose sheer scale demands a different response than that required of pocket lairds' houses in remoter parts (such as Auchinachie, Forgue). These are big-league players. Ruinous by 1772; restored, 1980-4, Ian Begg, for David Lumsden, whose last act of restoration was to add some heraldry (cf Monymusk).
Taken from "Aberdeenshire: Donside and Strathbogie - An Illustrated Architectural Guide", by Ian Shepherd, 2006. Published by the Rutland Press
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Archaeology Notes
NJ61SE 1 66483 11426
(NJ 6648 1143) Tillycairn Castle (NR)
OS 6" map, (1959)
Tillycairn Castle is a fine example of the L-plan, probably built about 1550. It measures 41 1/2 feet by 37 feet, with a circular staircase tower in the re-entrant. The main building was four storeys high, the wing being one storey higher. Macfarlane (1906-8) records that the castle was ruinous in 1722. In 1921 the building was in good repair despite being used as a hen-house.
D MacGibbon and T Ross 1887-92; W Macfarlane 1906-8; W D Simpson 1921; W D Simpson 1949.
Tillycairn Castle, as described, illustrated and planned by Simpson (1921; 1949).
Visited by OS (RL) 5 February 1968.
P Yeoman: watching brief for SDD March 1980.
(Newspaper references cited).
NMRS, MS/712/57.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
References
Bell-Ingram (1989 )
Tillycairn Castle, Aberdeenshire: {sale particulars},
Aberdeen,
Bogdan and Bryce, N and I B D (1991 )
'Castles, manors and 'town houses' survey',
Discovery Excav Scot, 1991, 28,
Cruden, S (1960 a)
'The Scottish Castle',
Edinburgh, 173, 216, 217, 221, 222,
Cumming, I (2000 )
'Tillycairn, Hatton Castle, and Forter Castle - the work',
Clow, R, Restoring Scotland's castles: an account of the restoration or rebuilding of eleven tower houses, based on presentations made at a conference held in Glasgow at the Henry Wood Hall, Woodside, organised by the Strathclyde Group of the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland,, Glasgow, 177-82,
Giles, J (1936 )
'Drawings of Aberdeenshire castles',
Aberdeen, pl. lxxxi,
MacGibbon and Ross, D and T (1887-92 )
The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth centuries,
5v, Edinburgh, Vol. 3, 601-2,
Macfarlane, W (1906-8 )
Geographical collections relating to Scotland,
Mitchell, A and Clark, J T, 3v, Edinburgh, Vol. 1, 96,
Scottish Castle Survey (1988 )
'A directory of the owners and occupiers of the castles, manors and 'town houses' {c.1050-c.1707} of Scotland: Grampian Region',
Aberdeen, 25, no.42/4,
Shepherd, I [A G] (1994 a)
Gordon: an illustrated architectural guide,
[Edinburgh], 151,
Shepherd, I A G (2006 )
Aberdeenshire, Donside and Strathbogie: an illustrated architectural guide,
Charles McKean, [Edinburgh], 151,
Simpson, W D (1921 )
'Notes on five Donside castles',
Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 55, 1920-1, 139-142,
Simpson, W D (1949 a)
The earldom of Mar: being a sequel to "The Province of Mar", 1943,
Aberdeen, 120-2,
Slade, H G (1983 a)
'Tillycairn Castle, Aberdeenshire',
Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 112, 1982, 497,
Strutt and Parker (2007 )
Tillycairn Castle, Nr Dunecht, Aberdeenshire: [sale particulars],
Edinburgh,
Tranter, N (1962-70 )
'The fortified house in Scotland',
Edinburgh, vol. 4, 82-3,
Tillycairn, c.1550. Substantial four-storey-and-attic, harled, L-plan country house with rounded angles and fine stair-tower in re-entrant angle topped with bold ashlar caphouse. Angle turrets on strong corbels. Almost hidden from the main road, on an elevated site, this is a most rewarding building, particularly in the massing of windows and turrets on the south front, or the interest inspired by the view into the re-entrant. Although referred to as a 'bantam cock', Tillycairn is one of the central Aberdeenshire chateaux whose sheer scale demands a different response than that required of pocket lairds' houses in remoter parts (such as Auchinachie, Forgue). These are big-league players. Ruinous by 1772; restored, 1980-4, Ian Begg, for David Lumsden, whose last act of restoration was to add some heraldry (cf Monymusk).
Taken from "Aberdeenshire: Donside and Strathbogie - An Illustrated Architectural Guide", by Ian Shepherd, 2006. Published by the Rutland Press
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Archaeology Notes
NJ61SE 1 66483 11426
(NJ 6648 1143) Tillycairn Castle (NR)
OS 6" map, (1959)
Tillycairn Castle is a fine example of the L-plan, probably built about 1550. It measures 41 1/2 feet by 37 feet, with a circular staircase tower in the re-entrant. The main building was four storeys high, the wing being one storey higher. Macfarlane (1906-8) records that the castle was ruinous in 1722. In 1921 the building was in good repair despite being used as a hen-house.
D MacGibbon and T Ross 1887-92; W Macfarlane 1906-8; W D Simpson 1921; W D Simpson 1949.
Tillycairn Castle, as described, illustrated and planned by Simpson (1921; 1949).
Visited by OS (RL) 5 February 1968.
P Yeoman: watching brief for SDD March 1980.
(Newspaper references cited).
NMRS, MS/712/57.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
References
Bell-Ingram (1989 )
Tillycairn Castle, Aberdeenshire: {sale particulars},
Aberdeen,
Bogdan and Bryce, N and I B D (1991 )
'Castles, manors and 'town houses' survey',
Discovery Excav Scot, 1991, 28,
Cruden, S (1960 a)
'The Scottish Castle',
Edinburgh, 173, 216, 217, 221, 222,
Cumming, I (2000 )
'Tillycairn, Hatton Castle, and Forter Castle - the work',
Clow, R, Restoring Scotland's castles: an account of the restoration or rebuilding of eleven tower houses, based on presentations made at a conference held in Glasgow at the Henry Wood Hall, Woodside, organised by the Strathclyde Group of the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland,, Glasgow, 177-82,
Giles, J (1936 )
'Drawings of Aberdeenshire castles',
Aberdeen, pl. lxxxi,
MacGibbon and Ross, D and T (1887-92 )
The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth centuries,
5v, Edinburgh, Vol. 3, 601-2,
Macfarlane, W (1906-8 )
Geographical collections relating to Scotland,
Mitchell, A and Clark, J T, 3v, Edinburgh, Vol. 1, 96,
Scottish Castle Survey (1988 )
'A directory of the owners and occupiers of the castles, manors and 'town houses' {c.1050-c.1707} of Scotland: Grampian Region',
Aberdeen, 25, no.42/4,
Shepherd, I [A G] (1994 a)
Gordon: an illustrated architectural guide,
[Edinburgh], 151,
Shepherd, I A G (2006 )
Aberdeenshire, Donside and Strathbogie: an illustrated architectural guide,
Charles McKean, [Edinburgh], 151,
Simpson, W D (1921 )
'Notes on five Donside castles',
Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 55, 1920-1, 139-142,
Simpson, W D (1949 a)
The earldom of Mar: being a sequel to "The Province of Mar", 1943,
Aberdeen, 120-2,
Slade, H G (1983 a)
'Tillycairn Castle, Aberdeenshire',
Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 112, 1982, 497,
Strutt and Parker (2007 )
Tillycairn Castle, Nr Dunecht, Aberdeenshire: [sale particulars],
Edinburgh,
Tranter, N (1962-70 )
'The fortified house in Scotland',
Edinburgh, vol. 4, 82-3,
You've been very busy over the last couple of days. Thank you for everything you've posted. I will get around to looking at them all over the next few days - hopefully.
13 to go! 
Managed to obtain the sales particulars - but only an e-mail copy.
Stunning, what a job they made of the restoration, and in one of my favourite parts of the country,
if only......
can I win the lottery? 
if only......
can I win the lottery?
Have Strutt and Parker realised that you provide them with so much free advertising?
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