The Castles of Scotland by Martin Coventry | Goblinshead | A comprehensive guide to 4,100 castles, towers, historic houses, stately homes and family lands
The Castles of Scotland by Martin Coventry | Goblinshead | A comprehensive guide to 4,100 castles, towers, historic houses, stately homes and family lands
The Castles of Scotland
The Castles of Scotland 

–––––– Castle of the Month January 2018 ––––––

Slains Castle

Slains Castle, the sprawling and magnificent ruin of a once splendid cliff-top castle and mansion of the Hay Earls of Errol, near Cruden Bay in the northeast of Scotland.

Slains Castle, the sprawling and magnificent ruin of a once splendid cliff-top castle and mansion of the Hay Earls of Errol, near Cruden Bay in the northeast of Scotland. Stains Castle (Daniell, 1822)

Banff & Buchan: About 1 mile east of Cruden Bay, on minor roads and foot east of A975, on cliffs above sea, at (New) Slains.

 

Ruin or site   NK 102362   OS: 30   AB41 8RS

Slains Castle, the sprawling and magnificent ruin of a once splendid cliff-top castle and mansion of the Hay Earls of Errol, near Cruden Bay in the northeast of Scotland. Slains Castle (© Martin Coventry)
Slains Castle, the sprawling and magnificent ruin of a once splendid cliff-top castle and mansion of the Hay Earls of Errol, near Cruden Bay in the northeast of Scotland. Slains Castle (old postcard)

The huge ruin of Slains (or New Slains) Castle, standing on precipitous cliffs above the sea, incorporates part of the basement of the 16th-century tower house of Bowness. The castle now consists of mostly two-storey buildings around a central courtyard, with adjoining ranges, and a tall four-storey tower with a round stair-turret. 

Slains Castle, the sprawling and magnificent ruin of a once splendid cliff-top castle and mansion of the Hay Earls of Errol, near Cruden Bay in the northeast of Scotland. Slains Castle (© Martin Coventry)

The building was greatly altered in 1664, when a corridor was inserted within the courtyard, and was substantially rebuilt and granite faced in 1836. There were extensive gardens.

Slains Castle, the sprawling and magnificent ruin of a once splendid cliff-top castle and mansion of the Hay Earls of Errol, near Cruden Bay in the northeast of Scotland. Slains Castle (© Martin Coventry)

‘Bowness’ is probably marked on Pont’s map of Buchan, although it is difficult to decipher.

Old Slains Castle, the predecessor of Slains Castle, the sprawling and magnificent ruin of a once splendid cliff-top castle and mansion of the Hay Earls of Errol, near Cruden Bay in the northeast of Scotland. Old Slains Castle (old postcard)

The present castle was built by Francis Hay, 9th Earl of Errol, after James VI had destroyed his castle at what is now known as Old Slains [NK 053300], further south down the coast near Collieston, after the Hays had taken part in the rebellion of 1594 along with the Earl of Huntly. Not much more than one crumbling wall with a window or doorway survives from this building.

Slains Castle, the sprawling and magnificent ruin of a once splendid cliff-top castle and mansion of the Hay Earls of Errol, near Cruden Bay in the northeast of Scotland. Slains Castle (© Martin Coventry)
Slains Castle, the sprawling and magnificent ruin of a once splendid cliff-top castle and mansion of the Hay Earls of Errol, near Cruden Bay in the northeast of Scotland. Slains Castle (old engraving)

Dr Johnson and Boswell visited the newer Slains in 1773. Bram Stoker had the inspiration for writing Dracula here, after staying in a cottage near Cruden Bay and perhaps visiting the castle, although the building was not a ruin at the time, as some have suggested.

Slains Castle, the sprawling and magnificent ruin of a once splendid cliff-top castle and mansion of the Hay Earls of Errol, near Cruden Bay in the northeast of Scotland. Slains Castle (© Martin Coventry)

The property was sold by the Hays in 1916, apparently because of crippling death duties, and unroofed in 1925. Recent reports suggest that there are plans to turn the ruins into a holiday complex, which would be a shame as it as a grand ruin, although so far they have come to nothing.

Slains Castle, the sprawling and magnificent ruin of a once splendid cliff-top castle and mansion of the Hay Earls of Errol, near Cruden Bay in the northeast of Scotland. Slains Castle: internal courtyard (© Martin Coventry)

The castle is in a dangerous location near cliffs, and great care should be taken, particularly with children. A 15-year-old boy fell to his death here in 2013.
  Some accounts have the castle haunted by the ghost of Victor Hay, 21st Earl of Errol, who died in the first quarter of the 20th century.

Slains Castle, the sprawling and magnificent ruin of a once splendid cliff-top castle and mansion of the Hay Earls of Errol, near Cruden Bay in the northeast of Scotland. Slains Castle (old postcard)
Slains Castle, the sprawling and magnificent ruin of a once splendid cliff-top castle and mansion of the Hay Earls of Errol, near Cruden Bay in the northeast of Scotland. Slains Castle (© Martin Coventry)

The Hays built the Errol Aisle [NK 041290], around 1599, at Slains old parish church and members of the family were buried here from the middle of the 16th century. There is a slab for 1758 for Mary, Countess of Errol, and some 18th-century markers in the steeply sloping burial ground. There has been a place of worship here from the middle of the 13th century or earlier, but the rest of the old parish church, dedicated to St Ternan, has gone, and a new church was built nearby at the beginning of the 19th century. There is a well, dedicated to St Ternan, within the burial ground.

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