Kindrochit Castle was once a mighty royal castle but today only small fragments of its two main buildings have survived to the present day.
The oldest part of the castle is the hall house located in the north-eastern part of the entire complex. 
On the ground floor of the main block, there were at least three spacious pantries or warehouses. Each of these rooms, however, was devoid of a stone vault.
Above them, there was originally a hall and private chambers of the lord and his immediate family. Additional living quarters, probably intended for the use of servants, could also be located in the attic. Some of the chambers in the corner towers were occupied by higher-ranking members of the lord's court. Their remaining rooms were given over to the use of the castle guards. In the eastern wall of this building, two slit windows have been preserved in good condition.

An integral part of the castle was also a bridge over the rocky, very steep gorge of the Clunie River. In fact, the name of the castle comes from the Gaelic Ceann-drochit, meaning the beginning or front of the bridge.

At the time of its completion, the castle was the fifth largest of its kind in Scotland.

The castle is located in the town where you can park next to the castle.

~ History ~

1057 ~ King Malcolm 'Canmore' builds himself a stronghold at Kindrochit soon after defeating King MacBeth at the Battle ofLumphanan. It becomes one of his and later Kings of Scotland's favourite hunting lodges.

1390 ~ King Robert II grants Sir Malcolm Drummond, his brother-in-law, a licence to build a new tower at Kindrochit. 

1402 ~ Sir Malcom is busy with construction work of the new tower when he is kidnapped by a group of "unknown perpetrators". Seriously wounded and held in harsh conditions, he dies soon after.

Although no evidence survives, it is assumed that Alexander Stewart, one of the illegitimate sons of the infamous

Sir Alexander Stewart, Wolf of Badenoch, is behind the crime.

1404 ~ Alexander Stewart also captures Kildrummy Castle, the main residence of Sir Malcolm's widow Lady Isabel, Countess of Mar. They later marry. Rumour has it the rich and titled Lady Isabel is forced into the marriage. By doing so, Alexander inherits the Earldom of Mar and Lordship of Garioch.

1412 ~ Alexander, also a known for his piracy exploits, during a plundering of the balticsea, intercepts a ship off the coat of Gdansk. Although the captain is released after paying a ransom, the rest of the crew are taken by Stewart to Kindrochit, where they are forced "to carry the stones needed for the construction of a new castle".The castle started by Sir Malcolm Drummond is completed with enforced Polish labour.

1435 ~ Following Alexander's death the county of Mar is incorporated into the Crown estate, despite the protests of Lady Isabel's closest relative, Sir Robert Erskin. 

1565 ~Queen Mary Stuart recognizes the Erskines' rights to the dignity of Earls of Mar. The title of 1st Earl of Mar is conferred by the Queen on Sir John Erskine. Kindrochit Castle remains in use for the next  50 years.

1618 ~ The castle is recorded as ruined, destroyed when a plague breaks out among its inhabitants.
It isblocked tightly by the entire population of Braemar and then destroyed with a cannon.

1628 ~ Sir John Erskine, 2nd Earl of Mar beginsthe construction of a new stronghold nearby, Braemar Castle. 
For the following centuries, the abandoned castle serves the local population as a place to obtain free building material.

~ Legend ~

1746 ~ During the Second Jacobite Uprising, a Hanoberian soldier is lowered into one of the cellars of the ruined castle in order to find is fabled treasures. Instead he finds "a company of ghosts sitting at a table covered by a pile of skulls."