Fyvie Castle is the finest example of Scottish Baronial architecture.  Fully restored and furnished to its former glory by the National Trust for Scotland.  The Castle has five towers, each built and named after one of the five families who owned it in succession.

On the south side, the Meldrum Tower is on the left, the Preston Tower to the right, and in the centre the Seton Tower forms a grand arched entrance. This is the work of Alexander Seton, Earl of Dunfermline, in 1599. He created a fantasy of corbelled turrets, parapet, carved dormer windows and armorial panels.  The Gordon Tower was added in 1777, and in 1890 the Leith Tower was built. The latter was modelled on Huntly Castle, and contains music and billiard rooms, and a gallery and organ.

In the main, the castle is only one room deep, with the rooms opening into one another in 17th century style. The pièce de résistance is an elaborate processional staircase, built by Seton in 1605. Based on a French concept, it is profusely decorated with heraldry. Also worthy of note is the Morning Room, with its amazing 17th century plasterwork, a panelled charter room, and a spectacular collection of paintings, including work by Batoni, Raeburn, Romney, Gainsborough, Opie and Hoppner.

On a fine summer's day the landscaped grounds offer a variety of interesting walks. In particular, the walks by the lochside can be quite breathtaking. Extensive woodland surrounds the Castle, and a bird hide is provided. The original walled garden has been restored, and grows traditional Scottish fruit and veg.  Elsewhere in the grounds, you will find restored an ice house, racquets court, and their Lordships' historic outside loo!

The first significant record of Fyvie Castle is in 1222, when Alexander II, by a charter dated at Fyuyn (Fyvie), 22 February, and witnessed by Robert, his chaplain, John Byset, Walter Byset, and confirmed by William Comyn, Earl of Buchan, grants to the monks of Arbroath, the church of Buthelny (now Meldrum).  Later it was visited by the English King Edward I in 1296. And little later still, it became one of the royal residences of King Robert the Bruce.  He decreed that the surrounding lands should become a hunting forest.

The Castle passed through many hands over the years. In 1397, it passed to the Prestons who built one of the towers - Sir Henry Preston, who fought at the battle of Otterburn.  In 1596 the Castle was bought by Alexander Seton from the then owners, the Meldrums. He erected Fyvie into a Barony, and entered Parliament in 1598 as the first Lord Fyvie.  He was later created 1st Earl of Dunfermline and Chancellor of Scotland.  His grandson, James Seton, fourth Earl of Dunfermline, was in the first Jacobite Rebellion and fled abroad, settling with King James at St. Germains in France. His lands were confiscated, and the Castle and estate were seized by the Crown in 1689.  During the 1740s, the Castle passed into the hands of the Gordons, purchased by George Gordon, 2nd son of the Marquis of Huntly.

Fyvie Castle is 25 miles north west of Aberdeen, through the village of Fyvie, and is now in the care of the National Trust for Scotland.