Corgarff Castle is located at Corgarff, in Aberdeenshire, north-east Scotland. It stands by the Lecht road, which crosses the pass between Strathdon and Tomintoul.

The castle was built in the mid 16th century by the Forbes of Towie. In 1571 it was burned by their enemy, Adam Gordon of Auchindoun, resulting in the deaths of Lady Forbes, her children, and numerous others, and giving rise to the ballad Edom o Gordon. After the Jacobite risings of the 18th century, it was rebuilt as a barracks and a detachment of government troops were stationed there, on the military road from Braemar Castle to Fort George, Inverness. Military use continued as late as 1831, after which the tower served as a distillery and housed local workers. It remained part of the Delnadamph estate belonging to the Stockdale family until they passed the castle into state care in 1961 and gave the ownership of the castle to the Lonach Highland and Friendly Society.

It is now in the care of Historic Environment Scotland and is open to the public. It has been designated a scheduled ancient monument.

Corgarff Castle

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Balmoral Castle is a large estate house in Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, near the village of Crathie, 6.2 miles (10 km) west of Ballater and 6.8 miles (11 km) east of Braemar.

Balmoral has been one of the residences for members of the British Royal Family since 1852, when the estate and its original castle were purchased privately by Prince Albert, consort to Queen Victoria. They remain as the private property of the royal family and are not the property of the Crown.

Soon after the estate was purchased by the royal family, the existing house was found to be too small and the current Balmoral Castle was commissioned. The architect was William Smith of Aberdeen, although his designs were amended by Prince Albert.

The castle is an example of Scottish baronial architecture, and is classified by Historic Scotland as a category A listed building. The new castle was completed in 1856 and the old castle demolished shortly thereafter.

The Balmoral Estate has been added to by successive members of the royal family, and now covers an area of approximately 50,000 acres (20,000 ha). It is a working estate, including grouse moors, forestry, and farmland, as well as managed herds of deer, Highland cattle, and ponies.

King Robert II of Scotland (1316–1390) had a hunting lodge in the area. Historical records also indicate that a house at Balmoral was built by Sir William Drummond in 1390. The estate is recorded in 1451 as "Bouchmorale", and later was tenanted by Alexander Gordon, second son of the 1st Earl of Huntly. A tower house was built on the estate by the Gordons.

In 1662 the estate passed to Charles Farquharson of Inverey, brother of John Farquharson, the "Black Colonel". The Farquharsons were Jacobite sympathisers, and James Farquharson of Balmoral was involved in both the 1715 and 1745 rebellions. He was wounded at the Battle of Falkirk in 1746. The Farquharson estates were forfeit, and passed to the Farquharsons of Auchendryne. In 1798, James Duff, 2nd Earl Fife, acquired Balmoral and leased the castle. Sir Robert Gordon, a younger brother of the 4th Earl of Aberdeen, acquired the lease in 1830. He made major alterations to the original castle at Balmoral, including baronial-style extensions that were designed by John Smith of Aberdeen.

Architecture
Though called a castle, Balmoral's primary function is that of a country house. It is a "typical and rather ordinary" country house from the Victorian period. The tower and "pepper pot turrets" are characteristic features of the residence's Scottish Baronial style. The seven-storey tower is an architectural feature borrowed from medieval defensive tower houses. The "pepper pot" turrets were influenced by the style of 16th-century French châteaux. Other features of the Scottish Baronial style are the crow-stepped gables, dormer windows, and battlemented porte-cochère.

Balmoral Castle

Glenbuchat Castle is a historic Z plan Scottish castle built in 1590 for John Gordon of Cairnbarrow to mark his wedding. It is located above the River Don, near Kildrummy, Aberdeenshire. The building is roofless, but otherwise in fairly good repair.

The family sold the castle in 1738, and it remained in private hands until the 20th century. James William Barclay bought the castle in 1901, and Colonel James Barclay Milne, his grandson, placed it in state care in 1946. A local club purchased the surrounding parkland in 1948 and gave it to the state to ensure that the castle's surroundings would remain intact. Both the castle and the surrounding land are managed by Historic Scotland as a scheduled ancient monument.

Glenbuchat Castle

Invercauld Castle is a country house situated in Royal Deeside near Braemar in Scotland. It is protected as a category A listed building, and the grounds are included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland.

The Farquharson family settled in the area in the 14th century, and constructed a tower house in the 16th century. A vaulted basement within the present building dates from this time, although the tower house was remodelled in the late 17th century. Further alterations were made through the 18th and 19th centuries, and in 1875 the castle was extensively remodelled by John Thomas Wimperis in the Scots Baronial style. The house retains many Victorian furnishing and paintings.

The estate
The castle estate comprises approximately 200 square miles (520 km2), set within the Cairngorm National Park, including a length of the River Dee. The tenth laird, James Farquharson, planted significant portions of the estate to woodland to supply the shipyards of nearby Aberdeen. Invercauld's sporting estate and location near the royal highland home of Balmoral Castle made it a favourite resort of Queen Victoria.

Invercauld Castle

Braemar Castle is situated near the village of Braemar in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is a possession of the chief of Clan Farquharson and is leased to a local charitable foundation. It is open to the public.

From the Late Middle Ages the castle was a stronghold of the Earls of Mar. The present Braemar Castle was constructed in 1628 by John Erskine, 18th Earl of Mar as a hunting lodge and to counter the rising power of the Farquharsons, replacing an older building, which was the successor of nearby Kindrochit Castle, which dates from the 11th century AD. The siting of Kindrochit Castle was based upon the strategic location of this site relative to historic crossings of the Grampian Mounth.

An important garrison after the 1745 Jacobite rising, Braemar Castle had been attacked and burned by John Farquharson, the Black Colonel of Inverey during the Jacobite rising of 1689, to prevent it being used as a garrison by Government troops. In 1716 the castle was forfeited to the Crown following the Earl of Mar's leadership of the 1715 Jacobite rising. The castle and lands were purchased by John Farquharson, 9th Laird of Invercauld but the building was left in ruins until 1748 when it was leased to the government at a fee of £14 per year, now to serve as a garrison for Hanoverian troops. Rebuilding started under the command of John Adam, Master Mason to the Board of Ordnance.

In 1831 the military garrison was withdrawn and the castle returned to the Farquharson clan. Restoration to provide a family home began under the 12th Laird of Invercauld who entertained Queen Victoria there when she attended the Braemar Gatherings in the grounds of the Castle. In 1800 Braemar Castle was documented to have its moat intact.

It has also featured in the video to Andy Stewart's "A Scottish Soldier".

Since 2006 the castle has been leased to the local community. It is run on behalf of the community by local charity, Braemar Community Ltd and staffed by local volunteers, and an ambitious restoration programme has been started. It reopened to the public in 2008.

Structure
The building is a five-storey L-plan castle with a star-shaped curtain wall of six sharp-angled salients, and with three storey angle turrets. The central tower enfolds a round stair tower and is built of granite covered with harl. The main entrance retains an original iron yett, and many of the windows are protected by heavy iron grilles.

On the ground floor are stone-vaulted rooms which contained the guardroom, ammunition store and original kitchen. These are built out into the salients of the outer wall, and in Victorian times a second kitchen was added adjoining the staff rooms. In the floor of a passage, an iron grill provided access to the Laird's Pit, a dark hole used as a dungeon.

On each of the upper floors a large room and a small room occupied the two arms of the tower. On the first floor are the Dining Room and Morning Room, whilst on the floor above is the Laird's Day Room, entered by a curved door. Opposite is the Rose Room, and between the two is a small bathroom installed in 1901. In the main wing at this level is the Drawing Room, containing graffiti incised on the window-shutters by government troops. The words "John Chestnut, Sergeant, 1797" can be clearly seen. On the third floor is the Four Poster Bedroom, whilst on the fourth floor lie the Ladies Guest Bedroom, Gentlemans Guest Bedroom and the Principal Bedroom. These upper floors were used by the Farquharson family in the latter years of their visits.

Braemar Castle

Kildrummy Castle is a ruined castle near Kildrummy, in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Though ruined, it is one of the most extensive castles dating from the 13th century to survive in eastern Scotland, and was the seat of the Earls of Mar. It is owned today by Historic Scotland and is open to the public as a scheduled ancient monument.

The castle was probably built in the mid-13th century under Gilbert de Moravia. It has been posited that siting of Kildrummy Castle was influenced by the location of the Grampian Mounth trackway crossings, particularly the Elsick Mounth and Cryne Corse Mounth. Kildrummy Castle underwent siege numerous times in its history, first in defence of the family of Robert the Bruce in August–September 1306 (leading to the executions of Nigel Bruce and many other Scots), and again in 1335 by David of Strathbogie. On this occasion Christina Bruce held off the attackers until her husband Sir Andrew Murray came to her rescue. In the reign of David II, Walter Maule of Panmure was warden of Kildrummy Castle.

In 1374 the castle's heiress Isobel was seized and married by Alexander Stewart, who then laid claim to Kildrummy and the title of Earl of Mar. In 1435 it was taken over by James I, becoming a royal castle until being granted to Lord Elphinstone in 1507.

The castle passed from the Clan Elphinstone to the Clan Erskine before being abandoned in 1716 following the failure of the Jacobite rebellion of 1715.

Architecture
Kildrummy Castle is "shield-shaped" in plan with a number of independent towers. The flat side of the castle overlooks a steep ravine; moreover, on the opposite side of the castle the walls come to a point, which was once defended by a massive twin-towered gatehouse. The castle also had a keep, called the Snow Tower, taller than the other towers, built in the French style, as at Bothwell Castle. Extensive earthworks protected the castle, including a dry moat and the ravine. Most of the castle foundations are now visible, along with most of its lower-storey walls. Archaeological excavations in 1925 uncovered decorative stone flooring and evidence of battles.

Today
The castle was given into the care of the Ministry of Works in 1951, and is now owned by its successor organisation, Historic Scotland. Kildrummy Castle gardens, in the quarry used to excavate stone for the castle, are both open to the public.

A hotel (the Kildrummy Castle Hotel) has been built on the old estate, overlooking the ruins.

Kildrummy Castle was the venue for the Scottish Sculpture Open, sometimes known as the Kildrummy Open, organised by the Scottish Sculpture Workshop from 1981 to 1997.