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A photograph of Gordon Palace of Strathbogie (Huntly Castle) taken around 1897. Aberdeenshire, Scotland. |
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The mid 15th century castle
shown here at Huntly is the last of the three castles built on the site to
protect the crossing of the river Deveron. The first Peel of Strathbogie
was an earth and timber motte and bailey castle built in the late 12th
century. The second was built on the bailey of the first in the 1400’s
and was a strong L-plan Stone Tower of the Gordon family. The third in the
mid 15th century saw the erection of the Palace of Strathbogie,
which, was a stronghold for the Catholic Faith in Scotland for a
considerable time. The Castle was again remodelled in the 1550s and
adorned with oriels and armorials in the 17th century. The
English ambassador of 1562 said: ‘It is the best furnished house of any
I have seen in the country’. Huntly Castle features prominently in
Scottish History with the visit of Sir Robert the Bruce in 1307 and again
James IV attended the marriage to the Pretender to the English throne.
Queen Regent Mary of Guise visited the Catholic Gordons in 1556 and by
1562 the Castle was to become the headquarters of the Counter Reformation
in Scotland. In that same year 1562, after the defeat
of the Earl of Huntly by Mary Queen of Scots the castle was pillaged and
the Treasure of ST Machars Cathedral, Aberdeen removed. In 1640 the
Covenanters occupied the Castle and in 1647 the ‘Irish Garrison was
hanged with their officers beheaded and marquis of Huntly and his escort
shot against the walls. The castle is said to have the most splendid heraldic doorway in the British Isles. |
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