Known anciently as the Craig of Auchindoir is located in Aberdeenshire, between Lumsden and Rhynie. It is settled on the edge of a dramatic dean (wooded ravine). The castle was built by a grandson of the famous Jock O’Sgurdargue, from whom so many Gordon families trace their ancestry. The Gordons of Craig held the castle from 1510 to 1892.
The first laird is said to have died at Flodden and his grandson, Patrick, at Pinkie. His son was implicated in the murder of the Bonnie Earl of Moray. The last of the Gordon line, an heiress, was burned to death with her daughter at Nice in 1863.
The original castle was built on the L-plan, which, with the ornate gateway and more modern building alongside, form a courtyard. Perhaps due to its proximity to the wilder highlands to the west, the building is well provided with large and wide gunloops and crosslet loops. The keep originally had a wall-walk, which was subsequently roofed over, leaving the crow-stepped gables sticking up through the roof line.
