Balfluig Castle

Balfluig Castle is a tower house that is used as a private home sitting on ground overlooking a largely marshy area south-east of Alford in Aberdeenshire. It is visible from the public road to the north, but is not accessible to the public.

The lands of Balfluig were part of the earldom of Mar, and from an early date it seems probable that they were occupied by the Forbes family, who were dominant in this part of Strathdon by the 15th century at the latest. However, they are not first mentioned until the mid 16th century when John Forbes, the fourth son of the laird of Corsindae, married Janet Forbes of Brux. It cannot be stated with any certainty whether John Forbes acquired Balfluig by inheritance, by purchase, or by marriage, but as there is a 1553 reference to John Forbes of Balfluig, he held the property by this date. Three years later, there was a castle at Balfluig but it may have been there for some time earlier – the datestone does not necessarily record the foundation date.

The castle is a variation of the L-plan towers of the mid to late 16th century, with the unusual addition of a full height stair turret in one of the re-entrant angles. The ground floor entrance led to a small lobby accessing the two vaulted basement rooms of the main building and a small corridor, off which the vaulted basement of the wing, stairs up to the winding turret staircase, and a small room beneath the staircase that could have been used as a prison. Doubtless the first floor contained the hall and a withdrawing chamber, with private chambers above. The main building was three floors and an attic, the wing a storey higher, and the rounded corners were corbelled out to square at the level of the main block’s roof. At this level there was also a small round turret opposite to the small wing. A curious arrangement of a corbelled squinch led to the attic of the wing, abutting the massive stepped chimney at the southern gable of the main building.

It is clear that the castle has been remodelled during its earlier phase of occupancy, but the date is unknown. The Forbes family held Balfluig into the 18th century, passing between different branches of the family, before the estate and castle were eventually sold to the Farquharsons in 1753. The castle is supposed to have been burned after the Battle of Alford in 1645, presumably, as this was a victory for the royalists, and there were three groups of Forbes cavalry on the losing (Covenanter) side, it was a reprisal of sorts. Forbes of Balfluig is not mentioned as fighting on either side In 1702, the lands were incorporated into a new Barony of Alford for John Forbes and his son George, and in 1753 George’s son John sold the barony to Francis Farquharson of Haughton, after which time the castle (known as Alford by this date) was unoccupied and allowed to fall into disrepair, although a new roof was placed on the wing in about 1885. It was restored in the 1960s.

HES Canmore database entry