page_title: Cluny Castle
section_title: Architecture
hierarchical_section_title: Cluny Castle / Architecture
caption_attribution_description: English: Cluny Castle in 1966 with original flagpole
context_page_description: Cluny Castle was originally built c.1604 as a Z-plan castle replacing either a house or small peel tower. Sited in the parish of Cluny, it is south of Monymusk and north of Sauchen in Aberdeenshire, north-east Scotland. Owned by three separate branches of Gordon families over the centuries, it was used to shelter Jacobite rebels in the mid-18th century. Extensive additions were made in 1820 to the design of architect John Smith when it was in the ownership of Colonel John Gordon. Two wings of the castle and the adjoining private chapel were destroyed by fire in 1926, but the damage was restored.
  It is a Category A listed building and has been used as a film setting. The grounds are included on the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland.
  As of 2016 it remains privately owned by the Baron of Cluny who has employed craftsmen to complete extensive renovations. It is not open to the public but corporate events are hosted there and weddings are held in the chapel.
context_section_description: Construction of the original Z-plan castle was completed in 1604; there is a commemorative stone inscribed "Thom. Gordon a Cluny miles me fecit 1604". The Master Mason Ian (John) Bell (Bel) is attributed with the construction of the original Cluny Castle and nearby Castle Fraser. MacGibbon and Ross attributed Cluny to a date earlier than 1604 and suggested it was similar in design to Claypotts Castle and would date from about the same time.
  The Aberdeen City Architect, John Smith was commissioned to undertake an extensive re-design of the castle in the 1820s. Completion of the construction work spanned several years and meant the castle was unsuitable for residential use until 1832. It took until the early 1840s for the work to be finished.
  The old castle was cocooned in granite so it blended with the new extensions and its first floor hall became the principal dining room. A clone of the old castle was built towards the east and the two were conjoined by a new building housing the entrance hall, main stairway and gallery corridor. The drawing room and morning room were on the first floor of the replica wing. The ground fell away at the rear of the buildings and an extra basement level was added there. Circular towers, arched windows with hood moulds and crenellated parapets above bold corbelling were all incorporated into the design. The pre-existing tower on the west elevation was considerably heightened by the addition of a further tall square tower above it.
  Significant parts of the castle were gutted by fire in September 1926. The main house was not damaged but two wings and the chapel were consumed by flames. Restoration work was promptly undertaken – a report in the Aberdeen Journal estimated repairs would be between £60,000 to £70,000. The chapel was re-constructed to resemble its former state and some re-modelling of the courtyard wings was carried out.
  The later extensions were initially described by architectural historian H. Gordon Slade in 1978 as "the most shocking mis-use of architectural effort and granite in the north east of Scotland." However, in 1981, he amended his opinion stating: "The architectural qualities of the castle as John Smith redesigned it become much more apparent and impressive as one becomes better acquainted with them, and – once regret at the loss of the old Cluny is set aside – it is possible to accord the new Cluny the approbation that it merits."  A respected archaeologist, Ian Shepherd, characterised it "As fantastical a baronial pile as can be found in eastern Scotland".
caption: Cluny Castle pictured in 1966
exif: {}