Gight Castle

Gight Castle is a ruined and extended tower house built for the Gordon family and occupied by them across the late 15th to the 18th century. It is built on the top of a steep slope overlooking the River Ythan, but is not particularly defensively situated, and there is no evidence of any outer defences like a ditch. The old part of the house is a thick-walled L-plan tower with a ground floor doorway and central passage serving the three vaulted cellars. The first floor has no roof (and access is rather tricky via VERY badly damaged stairs), but some architectural features are still to be seen. A long L-shaped range of buildings buts up to this tower house, and is also derelict.

Held by the Maitland family in the 14th century, the estate was granted to the earl of Huntly in 1507. The earl granted Gight to his third son William, whose descendants both built the castle and occupied it for the rest of its life. The Gordons of Gight have a more interesting history than the castle, being notoriously violent and lawless. The castle was garrisoned for the king during the mid 17th century, but appears not to have been attacked. The 13th laird was the Lady Catherine Gordon, who married Captain John Byron, known as “mad Jack” and a gambling addict. Their son was the poet Lord Byron. In 1787 she sold Gight to the earl of Aberdeen to pay off her husbands debts. It was abandoned soon afterwards. It is accessible on foot via a reasonably accessible but sometimes flooded footpath through the Forestry Commission land.

HES Canmore database entry