Glenbuchat Castle - illustrated reconstruction

This detailed illustration was commissioned by Historic Scotland as part of the on-site interpretation at Glenbuchat Castle in Aberdeenshire. It is a reconstruction and cutaway visualisation of the castle as it might have looked circa 1701.

Glenbuchat Castle is a z-plan Scottish tower house built in 1590 by John Gordon of Cairnburrow to mark the occasion of marriage to his second wife, Helen Carnegie. Glenbuchat later became home to another branch of the Gordon family - the Gordons of Knockespock, shortly after which the castle underwent significant modification of its interior rooms. It is typical of the period in history where castles became regarded less as defensive fortifications and more as symbols of great wealth, affluence and status. Grand-scale banqueting and entertaining, for which many castles were well known in previous centuries, fell out of fashion. Privacy became more important and grand houses such as this were extensively modified to make smaller, more private rooms and chambers.

The last Laird of Glenbuchat - John Gordon, known as 'Old Glenbucket', was a notable Jacobite, battalion commander and major-general with quite a fearsome reputation!

You can read more about this project on my blog page - http://www.bob-marshall.co.uk/2011/11/castle-reconstructions.html