About
Braemar Castle stands guard over the upper reaches of the River Dee in the heart of the Cairngorms National Park, a compact tower house of exceptional historical depth whose story encompasses the feuds of Scottish clans, the upheavals of the Jacobite rebellions, the military occupation of the Hanoverian army, and the remarkable achievement of a community reclaiming its ancestral heritage. Built in 1628 for John Erskine, Earl of Mar, the castle is now managed by Braemar Community Ltd on behalf of the Farquharson family — a genuinely community-led heritage attraction that combines historical authenticity with local ownership in a way that is still rare in Scotland.
The castle's early history is one of clan conflict and political turmoil. The Farquharsons of Invercauld, whose ancestral territory surrounded the castle, burned Braemar to the ground in 1689 following the Battle of Killiecrankie — the opening engagement of the first Jacobite rising — as an act of revenge against the hated Mar family. The ruins were then seized by the government following the abortive Jacobite Rising of 1715, and from 1748 the Hanoverian army garrisoned the castle as part of its campaign to pacify the Highland clans after Culloden. The star-shaped curtain wall that gives Braemar its distinctive military profile dates from this Hanoverian reoccupation — a defensive earthwork designed to resist the artillery that the army feared the Highland clans might deploy.
From 1748 the Farquharsons took the castle back on a government lease, and the family has lived here continuously ever since — a period of unbroken occupation of nearly three centuries that fills the castle with authentic domestic history. The interior retains remarkable eighteenth-century furnishings including original barrack-room furniture from the Hanoverian occupation — iron bedsteads, military equipment, and domestic utensils that have remained largely undisturbed since the army departed. These survivals make Braemar one of the most atmospheric and authentic small castles in Scotland, its rooms redolent with the layered history of clan warfare, military occupation, and rural Highland domestic life.
Set 5 miles from Balmoral Castle in the magnificent Cairngorms landscape, Braemar is best known to the wider world as the setting of the Royal Braemar Gathering — the Highland Games held annually in early September that the Royal Family attends from nearby Balmoral. The castle's position in the village of Braemar, the high altitude, and the surrounding mountains give every visit a special character. Managed since 2007 by Braemar Community Ltd, the castle represents a model of community heritage ownership that has been widely admired.
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Plan Your Visit
⏱️ Recommended Visit Duration
📅 Best Times to Visit
Quietest: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
Busiest: Saturday, Sunday
💡 Weekday mornings in May or June for uncrowded experience; avoid the Braemar Gathering weekend unless attending the games
💡 Visitor Tips
- Braemar is 90 km (56 miles) from Aberdeen via the A93 — a magnificent drive through Royal Deeside past Crathie Kirk and Balmoral. Allow 1 hour 30 minutes from Aberdeen. The route itself is one of the finest road journeys in Scotland.
- Combine Braemar Castle with Balmoral Castle (8 km east), which is typically open to visitors April to July when the Royal Family is not in residence. The two together make an excellent Royal Deeside heritage day.
- The guided tours by Braemar Community volunteers are exceptional — these are local people with deep personal knowledge and genuine passion for the castle's history. Ask questions freely and you will learn far more than any guidebook tells you.
- Don't miss the star-shaped Hanoverian curtain wall — walk the circuit around the outside of the castle before entering. The military geometry is best understood from outside, and the views of the Cairngorms from the walls are spectacular.
- Braemar village itself is worth an hour of your time: the Braemar Gathering site, the church with its royal connections, and the Victorian architecture create a character that is unique in Scotland.
- Avoid visiting on the first Saturday in September (Braemar Gathering day) unless you specifically want to attend the Highland Games — the village is packed to capacity and accommodation must be booked a year in advance.
- The castle is at altitude (340m above sea level) in a mountain valley. Even in summer the temperature can be surprisingly cool, especially in the shade of the tower. Bring a jacket regardless of the season.
- If you are interested in Jacobite history, read about the 1715 and 1745 risings before visiting — the castle's connections to the Earl of Mar (who raised the Jacobite standard in 1715 near Braemar) and the Farquharson family add enormous depth to the experience.
Highlights
The Hanoverian Star-Shaped Curtain Wall
The star-shaped curtain wall encircling Braemar Castle is one of the most complete examples of eighteenth-century military earthwork fortification in Scotland, constructed by Hanoverian engineers after the Jacobite Rising of 1745 to adapt the castle for use as a Highland garrison. The distinctive projecting bastions — each designed to allow flanking fire along the adjacent wall face — reflect the military engineering principles of the day, transforming an older tower house into a defensible barracks in the contemporary European manner.
Walking the wall circuit provides an overview of the castle's defensive geometry and magnificent views of the Cairngorms mountains.
The wall's excellent state of preservation makes it a textbook example of post-Culloden military architecture in the Scottish Highlands.
The Original Barrack-Room Furnishings
Among the most remarkable survivals in any Scottish castle, Braemar retains original furnishings from its period as a Hanoverian military barracks between 1748 and 1831 — iron bedsteads, military equipment, kitchen utensils, and domestic furniture that have remained largely in situ for nearly two centuries.
These survivals transform the castle's interior from a domestic heritage experience into an authentic encounter with eighteenth-century military domestic life. Few buildings in Britain preserve this quality of barrack furnishing from the Georgian period, and fewer still where the furnishings can be understood in their original spatial context.
The contrast between the military utility of the Hanoverian barracks and the later domestic additions of the Farquharson family creates layers of social history that the guided tour unpeels with compelling effect.
The Jacobite and Clan Farquharson Heritage
Braemar's history is inseparable from the turbulent history of the Clan Farquharson and its involvement in the Jacobite rebellions of the early eighteenth century. The castle's burning by the Farquharsons in 1689 following Killiecrankie, its seizure after the 1715 rising, and the Farquharsons' subsequent return on government lease in 1748 — all these events played out within a few miles of the castle walls and form the central narrative of any visit.
Family portraits, tartan, heraldic objects, and personal memorabilia associated with the Farquharson chiefs line the walls and fill the cases, creating an intimate record of a clan whose loyalties were tested again and again by the political upheavals of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
The guided tour brings this history alive with a personal authority rooted in local community knowledge.
The Tower and Spiral Staircase
The original tower of Braemar Castle, built for John Erskine, Earl of Mar, in 1628, retains its original form as a tall, vertically proportioned tower house of the early seventeenth century — compact in plan, defensible in character, and designed for a Highland landscape that demanded security as well as comfort.
The spiral staircase connecting the floors is original to the 1628 construction, its stone steps worn smooth by four centuries of feet. Ascending the stair and emerging onto the upper floors or battlements provides spectacular views of the Cairngorms mountains, the valley of the Dee, and the surrounding Braemar landscape.
The staircase itself — narrow, steep, and stone — communicates the physical reality of castle life more directly than any number of exhibition cases.
Collections
Braemar Castle's collections centre on the history of the castle itself and the families associated with it — the Erskines, the Farquharsons, and the Hanoverian military garrison. Original barrack furniture and fittings from the 1748-1831 military occupation represent the most historically unusual element, supplemented by Farquharson family portraits, tartan textiles, clan heraldry, Jacobite memorabilia, and personal objects accumulated across three centuries of family occupation.
The castle itself — its tower, spiral stair, original rooms, and star-shaped curtain wall — constitutes the primary heritage asset.
Local community knowledge, expressed through the volunteer guides, represents an interpretive resource of exceptional depth and authenticity.
The Castle History — from Erskine to Community
A sequence of rooms and displays tracing Braemar Castle's history from its 1628 construction through the Farquharson burning of 1689, Hanoverian military occupation 1748-1831, Farquharson domestic residence, and the community takeover of 2007. Clan history, Jacobite rebellion, and Highland social history are the principal themes.
📍 Throughout castle rooms
The Hanoverian Barracks
Rooms preserved or recreated to reflect the castle's period as a Hanoverian garrison, with original and period-appropriate military furnishings, equipment, and domestic objects. This element of the castle's interpretation is unique in Scotland.
📍 Ground and first floor
Themes
Time Periods
Current Exhibitions
No current exhibitions. Please check the museum website for updates.